Dictionary

pleasance en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈplɛzəns/

Etymology

From Middle English plaisaunce, plesaunce, from Old French plaisance. By surface analysis, please + -ance.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A pleasure ground laid out with shady walks, trees and shrubs, statuary, and ornamental water; a secluded part of a garden.
   • It is a tropical pleasance, washed by a noble river. 1924 June 4, E[dward] M[organ] Forster, A Passage to India, London: Edward Arnold & Co., →OCLC:
   • the pleasances of old Elizabethan houses 1859, John Ruskin, The Two Paths:
2. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) Willingness to please, or the action of pleasing; courtesy.
3. (countable, obsolete, uncountable) The feeling of being pleased; pleasure, delight.
   • Now ſtands the Brere like a Loꝛd alone, / Puffed vp with pꝛyde and vaine pleaſaunce: […] 1579, Immeritô [pseudonym; Edmund Spenser], “Februarie. Ægloga Secunda.”, in The Shepheardes Calender: […], London: […] Hugh Singleton, […], →OCLC, folio 6, verso:

Forms

Relateds

pleasurance

Synonyms

pleasure garden