pleasant, pleasaunt, plesaunt

& s. [O. Fr. plesant (Fr. plaisant ), pr. par. of plesir (Fr. plaisir )=to please (q. v.).] A. As adjective : 1. Pleasing, agreeable; affording pleasure or gratification to the mind or senses; gratifying. (Shakesp.: Pa ionate Pilgrim , 315.) 2. Cheerful, gay, lively, sprightly, enlivening. "From grave to light, from pleasant to severe." Dryden: Art of Poetry , 76. 3. Jocular, merry; given to, or fond of, joking. 4. Characterized by jocularity or pleasantry; merry, witty, sportive. "In that pleasant humor they all posted to Rome." Shakesp.: Rape of Lucrece , Arg. 8. bôil, boy; pout, jowl; cat, *B. As substantive : 3151 pleasureful ist, a droll. "They bestow their silver on courtesans, pleasants , and flatterers."- P . Holland : Plutarch , p. 169. 2. A kind of lawn or gauze. pleasant-spirited, a. Merry, gay. "By my troth, a pleasant - spirited lady." Shakesp.: Much Ado about Nothing , ii. 1. pleasant-tongued, a. Pleasing in speech. plěaş-ant-lý, *pleas-aunt-ly, adv . [English pleasant; -ly.] 1. In a pleasing manner; so as to please or grat ify. "He thought nothing might more pleas auntly happen." -Grafton: Chron. Edward IV . (an. 9.) 2. Gaily, merrily, sportively. *3. Jestingly, jocularly. plěaş-ant-ne , s. [Eng. pleasant; -ne .] 1. The quality or state of being pleasant, agreeable, or gratifying to the mind or senses. "The great delight they took to consider the pleasantne of the place." -North: Plutarch , p. 357. 2. Gayety, cheerfulne , merriment. 3. Jocularity, pleasantry. "Those soft and pleasing features which had won so many hearts." -Macaulay : Hist. Eng., ch. v. plēaş-ing-lý, adv. [Eng. pleasing; -ly.] 1. In a pleasing manner; so as to please or gratify; pleasantly. "To be as pleasingly and delightfully affected with him, as we do perceive, or are affected with any good in this world."- Sharp : Sermons, vol. iv., ser. 15. 2. With approval. "The texts of the New Testament that seem to look pleasingly upon preexistence."- Glanvill : Preëxistence of Souls , ch. xi.