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)

(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.
(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.
- 2008, Jonathan Borwein, ‎David Bailey, Mathematics by Experiment:
  The Indo-Arabic system was introduced into Europe in 1000 CE, but due to resistance from several quarters, centuries elapsed before it finally enjoyed widespread use.
(intransitive, India) To be satisfied or receive pleasure.
I enjoyed a lot.
(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

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), fruir (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), fruir (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