play

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English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From Middle English playen, pleyen, pleȝen, plæien, also Middle English plaȝen, plawen (> English plaw), from Old English pleġan, pleoġan, plæġan, and Old English pleġian, pleaġian, plagian (“to play, exercise, etc.”), from Proto-Germanic *pleganą, *plehaną (“to care about, be concerned with”) and Proto-Germanic *plegōną (“to engage, move”); both perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *blek- (“to move, move about”), from Proto-Indo-European *bal- (compare Ancient Greek βλύω (blúō), βλύζω (blúzō, “I gush out, spring”), Sanskrit बल्बलीति (balbalīti, “it whirls, twirls”)). Cognate with Scots play (“to act or move briskly, cause to move, stir”), Saterland Frisian plegia (“to look after, care for, maintain”), West Frisian pleegje, pliigje (“to commit, perform, bedrive”), Middle Dutch pleyen ("to dance, leap for joy, rejoice, be glad"; > Modern Dutch pleien (“to play a particular children's game”)), Dutch plegen (“to commit, bedrive, practice”), German pflegen (“to care for, be concerned with, attend to, tend”), Danish pleje (“to tend to, nurse”), Swedish pläga (“to be wont to, be accustomed to”). Related also to Old English plēon (“to risk, endanger”). More at plight, pledge.

The noun is from Middle English pleye, from Old English plæġ, pleġa, plæġa (“play, quick motion, movement, exercise; (athletic) sport, game; festivity, drama; battle; gear for games, an implement for a game; clapping with the hands, applause”), deverbative of pleġian (“to play”); see above.

Pronunciation[edit]

Verb[edit]

play (third-person singular simple present plays, present participle playing, simple past and past participle played)

  1. (intransitive) To act in a manner such that one has fun; to engage in activities expressly for the purpose of recreation or entertainment.
    They played long and hard.
    • 2001, Annabelle Sabloff, Reordering the Natural World, Univ. of Toronto Press, p.83:
      A youngster […] listed some of the things his pet did not do: […] go on vacation, play in the same way that he did with his friends, and so on.
    • 2003, Anne-Nelly Perret-Clermont et al. (eds.), Joining Society: Social Interaction and Learning in Adolescence and Youth, Cambridge Univ. Press, p.52:
      We had to play for an hour, so that meant that we didn't have time to play and joke around.
  2. (ergative) To perform in (a sport); to participate in (a game).
    He plays on three teams.  Who's playing now?  play football;  play sports;  play games
    1. (transitive) To compete against, in a game.
      • 2011 November 12, “International friendly: England 1-0 Spain”, in BBC Sport:
        England will not be catapulted among the favourites for Euro 2012 as a result of this win, but no victory against Spain is earned easily and it is right they take great heart from their efforts as they now prepare to play Sweden at Wembley on Tuesday.
  3. (intransitive) To take part in amorous activity; to make love, fornicate; to have sex.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, II.iv:
      Her proper face / I not descerned in that darkesome shade, / But weend it was my loue, with whom he playd.
  4. (transitive) To act as the indicated role, especially in a performance.
    He plays the King, and she's the Queen.  No part of the brain plays the role of permanent memory.
    • 2013 May-June, Katrina G. Claw, “Rapid Evolution in Eggs and Sperm”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3:
      In plants, the ability to recognize self from nonself plays an important role in fertilization, because self-fertilization will result in less diverse offspring than fertilization with pollen from another individual.
  5. (heading, transitive, intransitive) To produce music or theatre.
    1. (intransitive, of a music) To produce music.
      • 2007, Dan Erlewine, Guitar Player Repair Guide (ISBN 0879309210), page 220:
        If your guitar plays well on fretted strings but annoys you on the open ones, the nut's probably worn out.
    2. (intransitive, especially of a person) To produce music using a musical instrument.
      I've practiced the piano off and on, and I still can't play very well.
    3. (transitive, especially of a person) To produce music (or a specified song or musical style) using (a specified musical instrument).
      I'll play the piano and you sing.  Can you play an instrument?  We especially like to play jazz together.  Play a song for me.  Do you know how to play Für Elise?  My son thinks he can play music.
    4. (transitive, ergative) To use a device to watch or listen to the indicated recording.
      You can play the DVD now.
    5. (intransitive, of a theatrical performance) To be performed; (or of a film) to be shown.
      His latest film is playing in the local theatre tomorrow.
    6. (transitive, of a theatrical company or band, etc.) To perform in or at; to give performances in or at.
      • 2008, My Life: From Normandy to Hockeytown (ISBN 0966412087), p.30:
        I got a hold of Louis (Satchmo) Armstrong's agent and I explained to him on the phone that, "I know you're playing London on Wednesday night. Why don't you come and play the Arena in Windsor on Saturday night?"
    7. (transitive) To act or perform (a play).
      to play a comedy
  6. (heading) To behave in a particular way.
    1. (copulative) Contrary to fact, to give an appearance of being.
      • (Can we date this quote?) Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832)
        Thou canst play the rational if thou wilt.
      • 1985, Sharon S. Brehm, Intimate Relationships:
        Playing hard to get is not the same as slamming the door in someone's face.
      • 1996, Michael P. Malone, James J Hill: Empire Builder of the Northwest:
        Now, surveying his final link, he had the nice advantage of being able to play coy with established port cities that desperately wanted his proven railroad.
      • 2003, John U. Ogbu, Black American Students in an Affluent Suburb: A Study of Academic Disengagement, p.194:
        Instead, they played dumb, remained silent, and did their classwork.
    2. (intransitive) To act with levity or thoughtlessness; to trifle; to be careless.
      • (Can we date this quote?) Sir William Temple (1628–1699):
        Men are apt to play with their healths.
    3. (intransitive) To act; to behave; to practice deception.
    4. (transitive) To bring into sportive or wanton action; to exhibit in action; to execute.
      to play tricks
      • (Can we date this quote?) John Milton (1608-1674):
        Nature here / Wantoned as in her prime, and played at will / Her virgin fancies.
      • 1920, Mary Roberts Rinehart, Avery Hopwood, The Bat, chapterI:
        The Bat—they called him the Bat. […]. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the fence couldn't swear he knew his face.
  7. (intransitive) To move in any manner; especially, to move regularly with alternate or reciprocating motion; to operate.
    The fountain plays.
  8. (intransitive) To move gaily; to disport.
    • (Can we date this quote?) William Shakespeare (1564-1616):
      even as the waving sedges play with wind
    • (Can we date this quote?) Joseph Addison (1672-1719):
      The setting sun / Plays on their shining arms and burnished helmets.
    • (Can we date this quote?) Alexander Pope (1688-1744):
      All fame is foreign but of true desert, / Plays round the head, but comes not to the heart.
  9. (transitive) To put in action or motion.
    to play cannon upon a fortification;  to play a trump in a card game
  10. (transitive) To keep in play, as a hooked fish, in order to land it.
  11. (transitive) To manipulate or deceive someone.
    You played me!

Hypernyms[edit]

Conjugation[edit]

Conjugation of play
infinitive (to) play
present tense past tense
1st person singular play played
2nd person singular play,
playest1
3rd person singular plays,
playeth1
plural play
subjunctive play
imperative play —
participles playing played
1) Archaic or obsolete.

Translations[edit]

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

Noun[edit]

play (countable and uncountable, plural plays)

  1. (uncountable, formerly countable) Activity for amusement only, especially among the young.
    • Jane Austen, Northanger Abbey
      She was fond of all boys' plays, and greatly preferred cricket […] to dolls […]
  2. (uncountable) Similar activity, in young animals, as they explore their environment and learn new skills.
  3. (uncountable, ethology) "Repeated, incompletely functional behavior differing from more serious versions ..., and initiated voluntarily when ... in a low-stress setting."
  4. The conduct, or course of a game.
  5. (countable) An individual's performance in a sport or game.
  6. (countable) (turn-based games) An action carried out when it is one's turn to play.
    • 2009, Joe Edley, ‎John Williams, Everything Scrabble: Third Edition (page 85)
      AWARD is better than either WARED or WADER. However, there's an even better play! If you have looked at the two-to-make-three letter list, you may have noticed the word AWA.
  7. (countable) A literary composition, intended to be represented by actors impersonating the characters and speaking the dialogue.
  8. (countable) A theatrical performance featuring actors.
    We saw a two-act play in the theatre.
  9. (countable) A major move by a business.
  10. (countable) A geological formation that contains an accumulation or prospect of hydrocarbons or other resources.
  11. (uncountable) The extent to which a part of a mechanism can move freely.
    No wonder the fanbelt is slipping: there’s too much play in it.
    Too much play in a steering wheel may be dangerous.
  12. (uncountable, informal) Sexual role-playing.
    • 1996, Sabrina P Ramet, Gender reversals and gender cultures
      The rarity of male domination in fantasy play is readily explained.
    • 1996, "toptigger", (on Internet newsgroup alt.personals.spanking.punishment)
      Palm Springs M seeks sane F 4 safe bdsm play
    • 2013, Rachel Kramer Bussel, Best Bondage Erotica 2014
      There were none of the usual restrictions on public nudity or sexual interaction in the club environment. Still, the night was young, and as he'd made his way to the bar to order Mistress Ramona a gin and tonic, he'd seen little in the way of play.
    • 2014, Jiri T. Servant, Facts About Bondage - Bondage Guide For Beginners
      This type of play allows some people to relax and enjoy being given pleasure without having to think about giving pleasure back at the same time.
  13. (countable) A button that, when pressed, causes media to be played.

Synonyms[edit]

Translations[edit]

Derived terms[edit]

Terms derived from the noun or verb play

See also[edit]

Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Statistics[edit]

Most common English words before 1923 in Project Gutenberg: London · save · length · #580: play · remained · bear · service

Italian[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowing from English play.

Noun[edit]

play m (invariable)

  1. play (theatrical performance; start key)

Interjection[edit]

play!

  1. used to announce the start a game of tennis

Spanish[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Borrowing from English play.

Noun[edit]

play m (plural plays)

  1. play (button)
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