enjoy

English

Etymology

From Middle English enjoyen, borrowed 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)

• Audio

  (file)

• 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
   • 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.

   Enjoy your holidays!   I enjoy dancing.

2. (transitive) To have the use or benefit of something.
   • Bible, Numbers xxxvi. 8

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

   • 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.

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

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

   I enjoyed a lot.

4. (transitive) To have sexual intercourse with.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Milton to this entry?)

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

• enjoyable
• enjoyment
• to enjoy oneself

Translations

to receive pleasure or satisfaction from something

• Albanian: gëzoj (sq)
• American Sign Language: OpenB@Chest-PalmBack-OpenB@Trunk-PalmBack RoundSurface-RoundSurface
• Arabic: اِسْتَمْتَعَ‎ (istamtaʿa)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Azerbaijani: həzz almaq
• Basque: please add this translation if you can
• Breton: bourrañ (br)
• Bulgarian: радвам се (radvam se), изпитвам удоволствие (izpitvam udovolstvie)
• Catalan: gaudir (ca)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 享受 (hoeng² sau⁶)

  Mandarin: 欣賞 (zh), 欣赏 (zh) (xīnshǎng), 喜愛 (zh), 喜爱 (zh) (xǐ'ài), 享受 (zh) (xiǎngshòu)

• Corsican: goda (co)
• Czech: bavit (cs)
• 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
• Friulian: gjoldi
• Galician: gozar, desfrutar
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: genießen (de), sich erfreuen an (de)
• Greek:

  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)
• Ido: juar (io)
• Irish: bain sult as, bain taitneamh as, bain spórt as
• Istriot: guodi
• Italian: godere (it), gioire (it), piacere (it)
• Japanese: 楽しむ (ja) (tanoshimu)

• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Ladin: goder
• Latin: fruor
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Luxembourgish: genéissen
• Maltese: igawdu
• Maori: hākinakina
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Ngazidja Comorian: hula
• Norman: joui (Jersey)
• Norwegian: nyte (no)
• Occitan: gaudir (oc), gausir (oc)
• Persian: لذت بردن‎ (fa)
• Portuguese: aproveitar (pt), desfrutar (pt), gozar (pt), curtir (pt), apreciar (pt)
• Quechua: achiy
• Romanian: savura (ro), a se bucura de, a se distra
• Romansch: giudair, guder, giuder, galdeir, giodair
• Russian: наслажда́ться (ru) impf (naslaždátʹsja), наслади́ться (ru) pf (nasladítʹsja)
• 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)
• Slovene: uživati
• Spanish: disfrutar (es), gozar (es)
• Swedish: tycka om (sv), njuta (sv)
• Thai: เพลิดเพลิน (th) (plə̂ət-pləən)
• Turkish: zevk almak, haz almak (tr)
• Ukrainian: насолоджуватися (nasolodžuvatysja)
• Venetian: goder, godar
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can
• Volapük: juitön (vo)
• Welsh: mwynhau (cy)
• Yiddish: געניסן‎ (genisn)

to have the use or benefit of something

• Breton: tañva (br)
• Catalan: gaudir (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 享有 (zh) (xiǎngyǒu)

• Czech: těšit se
• Dutch: genieten (nl)
• French: jouir de
• German: genießen (de)
• Hebrew: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: élvez (hu), örvend (hu)

• Italian: usufruire (it), godere (it), beneficiare (it)
• Japanese: 享受する (kyōjusuru)
• Latin: fruor
• Ngazidja Comorian: hula
• Portuguese: aproveitar (pt), gozar (pt) de, desfrutar (pt) de
• Slovene: uživati
• Spanish: disfrutar (es), gozar (es), aprovechar (es)
• Swedish: åtnjuta (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout#Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} genieten (nl)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} godere (it)
• Malayalam: ^{(please verify)} ആസ്വദിയ്ക്കുക (āsvadiykkuka)
• Norwegian: ^{(please verify)} nyte (no), ^{(please verify)} glede seg ved

• Polish: ^{(please verify)} lubić (pl)
• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} a se delecta
• Romansch: ^{(please verify)} giudair
• Sardinian: ^{(please verify)} godire

Anagrams

• joyen, joyne