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"pleasure" in seven languages

Meaningpleasure

Spanish

placer

/plaˈθeɾ/

masc.inherited

Spanish kept pl- here instead of turning it to ll-.

French

plaisir

/plɛziʁ/

masc.inherited

Italian

piacere

/pjaˈtʃere/

masc.inherited

Piacere! is 'nice to meet you'.

Portuguese

prazer

/pɾaˈzeh/

masc.inherited

Portuguese turned PL- into pr- here (compare chorar ← PLŌRĀRE); prazer! is 'nice to meet you'.

Romanian

plăcere

/pləˈtʃere/

fem.inherited

The infinitive noun of plăcea 'to please'.

Catalan

plaer

/pləˈe/

masc.inherited

Catalan lost the c between vowels: PLACĒRE → plaer.

English

pleasure

/ˈplɛʒɚ/

from Latin/French · Old French plaisir

English → ItalianpleasurepiacereCognateSame source — inherited, learned or borrowed. You can recognize it.What English and Italian share

The Latin ancestor

PLACĒRE‘to please (the infinitive used as a noun)’

All six sisters descend from it, unless marked otherwise below.

The story

Each sister turned the infinitive 'to please' into a noun. 'With pleasure!' is con mucho gusto in Spanish, but avec plaisir and con piacere in French and Italian.

English relatives: please, pleasure, placid, complacent

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In a sentence

  • es¡Con mucho gusto!
  • frAvec plaisir !
  • itCon piacere!
  • ptCom prazer!
  • roCu plăcere!
  • caAmb molt de gust!
  • enWith pleasure!

More in Feelings

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