satisfy

English

Etymology

From Latin satisfacere, present active infinitive of satisfaciō, from satis (“enough, sufficient”) + faciō (“make, do”)

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsætɪsfaɪ/, X-SAMPA: /"s{tIsfaI/

• Audio (US)

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Verb

satisfy (third-person singular simple present satisfies, present participle satisfying, simple past and past participle satisfied) (transitive)

1. To do enough; to meet (needs); to fulfill (wishes, requirements).
2. To cause (a sentence) to be true when (the sentence) is interpreted in one's universe.

   The complex numbers satisfy $\exists x:x^2+1=0$.

3. (dated, literary) To convince, to ascertain.
   • 1851, Herman Melville, Moby Dick, chapter 19

     I was resolved to satisfy myself whether this ragged Elijah was really dogging us or not, and with that intent crossed the way with Queequeg, and on that side of it retraced our steps.

Antonyms

• (meet needs, fulfill): disappoint
• dissatisfy

Related terms

• satisfaction
• satisfactory
• satisfice
• satiate
• satiation
• satiety

Translations

to meet needs, to fulfill

• Armenian: բավարարել (hy) (bavararel)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 滿足 (cmn), 满足 (cmn) (mǎnzú)

• Czech: uspokojit (cs), vyhovět (cs)
• Dutch: voldoen (nl), voldoende zijn (nl)
• Esperanto: kontentigi (eo)
• Finnish: tyydyttää (fi)
• French: satisfaire (fr)
• German: befriedigen (de), zufriedenstellen (de)
• Italian: soddisfare (it), accontentare (it)
• Japanese: 満たす (ja) (みたす, mitasu)
• Latin: sufficio (la), satisfacio (la)
• Maori: whakanā (mi), whakaupa (mi), whakahei (mi)
• Norwegian: tilfredsstille (no)
• Persian: قانع کردن

• Portuguese: satisfazer (pt)
• Russian: удовлетворять (ru) (udovletvorját') impf., удовлетворить (ru) (udovletvorít') pf.
• Scottish Gaelic: sàsaich (gd), riaraich (gd)
• Slovene: (imperfective) zadovoljeváti (sl), (perfective) zadovoljíti (sl)
• Spanish: satisfacer (es)
• Swedish: tillfredsställa (sv)
• Telugu: తీర్చు (te) (teerchu)
• Turkish: tatmin etmek (tr), yetmek (tr), doyurmak (tr)
• Ukrainian: задовольнити
• Vietnamese: thỏa mãn (vi)

External links

• satisfy in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• satisfy in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911
• satisfy at OneLook Dictionary Search