enjoy

English

Alternative forms

• enioy, injoy (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English enjoyen, from Old French enjoier, anjoier, enjoer (“to give joy, receive with joy, rejoice”), equivalent to en- +‎ joy.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪnˈd͡ʒɔɪ/, /ənˈd͡ʒɔɪ/, /ɛnˈd͡ʒɔɪ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: en‧joy
• Rhymes: -ɔɪ

Verb

enjoy (third-person singular simple present enjoys, present participle enjoying, simple past and past participle enjoyed)

1. (transitive) To receive pleasure or satisfaction from something.

   Enjoy your holidays!   I enjoy dancing.

   • 1850, [Alfred, Lord Tennyson], In Memoriam, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, Canto XLVI, page 69:

     And we shall sit at endless feast,
     ⁠Enjoying each the other’s good;
     ⁠What vaster dream can hit the mood
     Of Love on earth?

   • 2013 July-August, Henry Petroski, “Geothermal Energy”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 4:

     Energy has seldom been found where we need it when we want it. Ancient nomads, wishing to ward off the evening chill and enjoy a meal around a campfire, had to collect wood and then spend time and effort coaxing the heat of friction out from between sticks to kindle a flame. With more settled people, animals were harnessed to capstans or caged in treadmills to turn grist into meal.

2. (transitive) To have the use or benefit of something.

   I plan to go travelling while I still enjoy good health.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Numbers 36:8:

     that the children of Israel may enjoy every man the inheritance of his fathers

   • 1922, Agatha Christie, “Chapter 17”, in The Secret Adversary:

     Night and day were the same in this prison room, but Tommy's wrist-watch, which enjoyed a certain degree of accuracy, informed him that it was nine o'clock in the evening.

   • 1988, Harry G Frankfurt, The importance of what we care about: philosophical essays:

     This account fails to provide any basis for doubting that animals of subhuman species enjoy the freedom it defines.

3. (intransitive, India) To be satisfied or receive pleasure.

   I enjoyed a lot.

4. (transitive) To have sexual intercourse with.
   • 1667, John Milton, “Book IX”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     Never did thy Beautie […] so enflame my sense With ardor to enjoy thee.

Usage notes

• This is a catenative verb that takes the gerund (-ing). See Appendix:English catenative verbs

Synonyms

• (receive pleasure or satisfaction): appreciate, delight in, rejoice, relish
• (have sexual intercourse with): coitize, go to bed with, sleep with; see also Thesaurus:copulate with

Derived terms

• disenjoy
• enjoyable
• enjoyment
• enjoy oneself
• enjoy your holiday
• enjoy your meal

 

Translations

to receive pleasure or satisfaction from something

Albanian: gëzoj (sq) American Sign Language: OpenB@Chest-PalmBack-OpenB@Trunk-PalmBack RoundSurface-RoundSurface Arabic: اِسْتَمْتَعَ (istamtaʕa), تَمَتَّعَ (tamattaʕa), اِنْبَسَطَ (inbasaṭa) South Levantine Arabic: انبسط (inbasaṭ) Armenian: please add this translation if you can Azerbaijani: həzz almaq Basque: gozatu Belarusian: насало́джвацца impf (nasalódžvacca), це́шыцца impf (cjéšycca), наце́шыцца pf (nacjéšycca) Breton: bourrañ (br) Bulgarian: ра́двам се (bg) impf (rádvam se), изпи́твам удово́лствие impf (izpítvam udovólstvie), наслаждавам се impf (naslaždavam se), наслади́ се pf (nasladí se) Catalan: gaudir (ca) Chinese: Cantonese: 享受 (hoeng2 sau6) Mandarin: 欣賞／欣赏 (zh) (xīnshǎng), 喜愛／喜爱 (zh) (xǐ'ài), 享受 (zh) (xiǎngshòu) Corsican: goda (co) Czech: bavit se (cs) impf, těšit se (cs) impf Dalmatian: gaudar Danish: nyde (da) Dutch: genieten van Esperanto: ĝui Estonian: nautima Finnish: nauttia (fi) French: (with a noun) profiter de, jouir de, (with a verb) apprécier, prendre plaisir (fr) Friulian: gjoldi Galician: gozar (gl), desfrutar Georgian: please add this translation if you can German: genießen (de), sich erfreuen an (de) Gothic: 𐌽𐌹𐌿𐍄𐌰𐌽 (niutan) Greek: απολαμβάνω (el) (apolamváno) Ancient: τέρπομαι (térpomai) Hebrew: נֶהֱנָה (he) (nehená) Hindi: आनंद लेना (ānand lenā), मज़े लेना (maze lenā), उपभोग करना (upbhog karnā) Hungarian: élvez (hu), szeret (hu) Icelandic: njóta (is) Ido: juar (io) Indonesian: menikmati (id) Irish: bain sult as, bain taitneamh as, bain spórt as Istriot: guodi Italian: godere (it), fare con piacere (it), gioire (it), divertirsi (it) Japanese: 楽しむ (ja) (たのし​む, tanoshimu) Khmer: រីករាយ (km) (riik riəy) Korean: 즐기다 (ko) (jeulgida) Ladin: goder Latin: fruor Latvian: please add this translation if you can Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can Lombard: godè (lmo), gudè, god (lmo) Luxembourgish: genéissen Maltese: igawdu Maori: hākinakina Mongolian: please add this translation if you can Neapolitan: gudè Ngazidja Comorian: hula Norman: joui (Jersey) Norwegian: nyte (no) Occitan: gaudir (oc), gausir (oc) Old English: brūcan Old Norse: njóta Ottoman Turkish: بگنمك (beğenmek) Persian: لذت بردن (fa) (lezzat bordan) Polish: cieszyć się (pl) impf, pocieszyć się (pl) pf, podobać się impf (roughly), spodobać się (roughly) Portuguese: aproveitar (pt), desfrutar (pt), gozar (pt), curtir (pt), apreciar (pt) Quechua: achiy Romanian: savura (ro), bucura (ro), distra (ro) Romansch: giudair, guder, giuder, galdeir, giodair Russian: наслажда́ться (ru) impf (naslaždátʹsja), наслади́ться (ru) pf (nasladítʹsja), получа́ть удово́льствие impf (polučátʹ udovólʹstvije), получи́ть удово́льствие pf (polučítʹ udovólʹstvije) Sanskrit: भुनक्ति (sa) (bhunakti), उच्यति (sa) (ucyati), जुषते (sa) (juṣate) Sardinian: godire, gudire, bodire, gosae, gosai, gosare Scottish Gaelic: còrd ri, meal, gabh tlachd ann Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: ужи́вати, густирати Roman: užívati (sh), gustirati (sh) Sicilian: gòdiri (scn), còliri (scn) Slovak: tešiť sa impf, baviť sa impf Slovene: uživati Spanish: disfrutar (es), gozar (es) Swedish: tycka om (sv), njuta (sv) Thai: เพลิดเพลิน (th) (plə̂ət-pləən) Tocharian B: winā-ññ- Turkish: zevk almak, haz almak (tr), eylenmek, eğlenmek (tr) Ukrainian: насоло́джуватися impf (nasolódžuvatysja), насолоди́тися pf (nasolodýtysja), усоло́джуватися impf (usolódžuvatysja), усолоди́тися pf (usolodýtysja), ті́шитися (uk) impf (tíšytysja), наті́шитися pf (natíšytysja), зазнава́ти насоло́ди impf (zaznaváty nasolódy), зазна́ти насоло́ди pf (zaznáty nasolódy) Venetan: goder, godar Vietnamese: thưởng thức (vi) Volapük: juitön (vo) Welsh: mwynhau (cy) Yiddish: געניסן (genisn)

to have the use or benefit of something

Arabic: حَظِيَ (ḥaẓiya) Breton: tañva (br) Catalan: gaudir (ca) Chinese: Mandarin: 享有 (zh) (xiǎngyǒu), 享受 (zh) (xiǎngshòu), 享用 (zh) (xiǎngyòng), 受用 (zh) (shòuyòng) Czech: těšit se (cs) impf Dutch: genieten (nl) French: jouir de German: genießen (de) Hebrew: השתמש (he) m (hishtamésh) Hungarian: élvez (hu), örvend (hu) Italian: usufruire (it), godere (it), beneficiare (it) Japanese: 享受する (ja) (きょうじゅする, kyōju suru) Korean: 향수하다 (hyangsuhada), 누리다 (ko) (nurida) Latin: fruor Ngazidja Comorian: hula Old English: brūcan Portuguese: aproveitar (pt), gozar de (pt), desfrutar de (pt) Russian: по́льзоваться (ru) impf (pólʹzovatʹsja) Slovene: uživati Spanish: disfrutar (es), gozar (es), aprovechar (es) Swedish: åtnjuta (sv) Vietnamese: hưởng thụ (vi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Dutch: (please verify) genieten (nl) Malayalam: (please verify) ആസ്വദിയ്ക്കുക (āsvadiykkuka) Norwegian: (please verify) nyte (no), (please verify) glede seg ved Romanian: (please verify) a se delecta Romansch: (please verify) giudair Sardinian: (please verify) godire

Anagrams

• joyen, joyne