Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
verb (used with object)
- to experience with joy; take pleasure in: He enjoys Chinese food.
- to have and use with satisfaction; have the benefit of: He enjoys an excellent income from his trust funds.
- to find or experience pleasure for (oneself): She seems to enjoy herself at everything she does.
- to undergo (an improvement): Automobile manufacturers have enjoyed a six-percent rise in sales over the past month.
- to have intercourse with.
verb (tr)
- to receive pleasure from; take joy in
- to have the benefit of; use with satisfaction
- to have as a condition; experiencethe land enjoyed a summer of rain
- archaic to have sexual intercourse with
- enjoy oneself to have a good time
late 14c., “rejoice, be glad” (intransitive), from Old French enjoir “to give joy, rejoice, take delight in,” from en- “make” (see en- (1)) + joir “enjoy,” from Latin gaudere “rejoice” (see joy); Sense of “have the use or benefit of” first recorded early 15c. (replacing Old English brucan; see brook (v.)).
Meaning “take pleasure in” is mid-15c. In modern use it has a tendency to lose its connection with pleasure: newspaper photo captions say someone enjoys an ice cream cone, etc., when all she is doing is eating it, and Wright’s “English Dialect Dictionary” (1900) reports widespread use in north and west England of the phrase to enjoy bad health for one who has ailments. Related: Enjoyed; enjoying; enjoys.