n. [ F. plaisance. See Please. ] 1. Pleasure; merriment; gayety; delight; kindness. [ Archaic ] Shak. “Full great pleasance.” Chaucer. “A realm of pleasance.” Tennyson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A secluded part of a garden. [ Archaic ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The pleasances of old Elizabethan houses. Ruskin. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A wit; a humorist; a buffoon. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ F. plaisant. See Please. ] 1. Pleasing; grateful to the mind or to the senses; agreeable; as, a pleasant journey; pleasant weather. [ 1913 Webster ]

Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! Ps. cxxxiii. 1. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Cheerful; enlivening; gay; sprightly; humorous; sportive; as, pleasant company; a pleasant fellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

From grave to light, from pleasant to serve. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Pleasing; gratifying; agreeable; cheerful; good-humored; enlivening; gay; lively; merry; sportive; humorous; jocose; amusing; witty. -- Pleasant, Pleasing, Agreeable. Agreeable is applied to that which agrees with, or is in harmony with, one's tastes, character, etc. Pleasant and pleasing denote a stronger degree of the agreeable. Pleasant refers rather to the state or condition; pleasing, to the act or effect. Where they are applied to the same object, pleasing is more energetic than pleasant; as, she is always pleasant and always pleasing. The distinction, however, is not radical and not rightly observed. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. In a pleasant manner. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The state or quality of being pleasant. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Pleasantries [ F. plaisanterie. See Pleasant. ] That which denotes or promotes pleasure or good humor; cheerfulness; gayety; merriment; especially, an agreeable playfulness in conversation; a jocose or humorous remark; badinage. [ 1913 Webster ]

The grave abound in pleasantries, the dull in repartees and points of wit. Addison. [ 1913 Webster ]

The keen observation and ironical pleasantry of a finished man of the world. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Of pleasing speech. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To afford or impart pleasure; to excite agreeable emotions. [ 1913 Webster ]

What pleasing scemed, for her now pleases more. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

For we that live to please, must please to live. Johnson. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To have pleasure; to be willing, as a matter of affording pleasure or showing favor; to vouchsafe; to consent. [ 1913 Webster ]

Heavenly stranger, please to taste
These bounties. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

That he would please 8give me my liberty. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Pleased; p. pr. & vb. n. Pleasing. ] [ OE. plesen, OF. plaisir, fr. L. placere, akin to placare to reconcile. Cf. Complacent, Placable, Placid, Plea, Plead, Pleasure. ] 1. To give pleasure to; to excite agreeable sensations or emotions in; to make glad; to gratify; to content; to satisfy. [ 1913 Webster ]

I pray to God that it may plesen you. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

What next I bring shall please thee, be assured. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To have or take pleasure in; hence, to choose; to wish; to desire; to will. [ 1913 Webster ]

Whatsoever the Lord pleased, that did he. Ps. cxxxv. 6. [ 1913 Webster ]

A man doing as he wills, and doing as he pleases, are the same things in common speech. J. Edwards. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To be the will or pleasure of; to seem good to; -- used impersonally. “It pleased the Father that in him should all fullness dwell.” Col. i. 19. [ 1913 Webster ]

To-morrow, may it please you. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

To be pleased in or
To be pleased with, to have complacency in; to take pleasure in. --
To be pleased to do a thing, to take pleasure in doing it; to have the will to do it; to think proper to do it. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Experiencing pleasure. -- Pleas"ed*ly adv. -- Pleas"ed*ness, n. [ 1913 Webster ]