English → Latin
“please” in Latin
placeōto be pleasing or agreeable to; to please, to be nice; to be welcome or acceptable; to satisfy, suit (in a mental rathergrātuspleasing, acceptable, agreeable, welcome; dear, beloved; grateful, thankfulamōto love; to be fond of, like, admire; to be pleased by or with (someone or something) for (a particular reason); to deridispliceōto displease (with dative); to be displeasedimprobōto disapprove; to blame, condemn, reject
The English word please itself goes back to Latin plācō, through placeō.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
please
placere (general term); delectat me aliquid, delector aliqua re (I am delighted with): gratum, jucundum est mihi aliquid (it is agreeable, according to my wishes): probatur mihi aliquid (it meets my approbation): arridet mihi aliquid; amo, laudo aliquid (I am well content with). To please greatly, perplacere (Cic.; ☞ avoid praeplacere, often used by modern writers, but not Latin): not to please, displicere; improbari: non probari: if it please you, si tibi placet, libet, libitum est, videtur, commodum est; nisi molestum est; quod commodo tuo fiat (Cic.); si volupe tibi est (Plaut.): when you please, quando visum fuerit; ubi volueris; ubi magis probaveris (after Cic.): to endeavor to please anybody, laborare alicui probari (Plin., Ep.); gratiam alicujus captare (Cic.): to seek to please everybody, se venditare omnibus (after Cic., Sull., 11, 32): to be pleased with, contentum esse, acquiescere aliqua re; ferre aliquid.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for please?
- The usual Latin words for “please” are placeō, grātus, amō; also displiceō, improbō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.