play

pronunciation

How to pronounce play in British English: UK [pleɪ] word uk audio image

How to pronounce play in American English: US [pleɪ] word us audio image

Noun:

a dramatic work intended for performance by actors on a stage
a theatrical performance of a drama
a preset plan of action in team sports
a deliberate coordinated movement requiring dexterity and skill
a state in which action is feasible
utilization or exercise
an attempt to get something
play by children that is guided more by imagination than by fixed rules
(in games or plays or other performances) the time during which play proceeds
the removal of constraints
a weak and tremulous light
verbal wit (often at another's expense but not to be taken seriously)
movement or space for movement
gay or light-hearted recreational activity for diversion or amusement
the act of playing for stakes in the hope of winning (including the payment of a price for a chance to win a prize)
the activity of doing something in an agreed succession
the act using a sword (or other weapon) vigorously and skillfully
Verb:

participate in games or sport
act or have an effect in a specified way or with a specific effect or outcome
play on an instrument
play a role or part
be at play; be engaged in playful activity; amuse oneself in a way characteristic of children
replay (as a melody)
perform music on (a musical instrument)
pretend to have certain qualities or state of mind
move or seem to move quickly, lightly, or irregularly
bet or wager (money)
engage in recreational activities rather than work; occupy oneself in a diversion
pretend to be somebody in the framework of a game or playful activity
emit recorded sound
perform on a certain location
put (a card or piece) into play during a game, or act strategically as if in a card game
engage in an activity as if it were a game rather than take it seriously
behave in a certain way
cause to emit recorded sounds
manipulate manually or in one's mind or imagination
use to one's advantage
consider not very seriously
be received or accepted or interpreted in a specific way
behave carelessly or indifferently
cause to move or operate freely within a bounded space
perform on a stage or theater
be performed
cause to happen or to occur as a consequence
discharge or direct or be discharged or directed as if in a continuous stream
make bets
stake on the outcome of an issue
shoot or hit in a particular manner
use or move
employ in a game or in a specific position
contend against an opponent in a sport, game, or battle
exhaust by allowing to pull on the line

Word Origin

play: play: [OE] The origins of play are obscure. It had a relative in Middle Dutch pleien ‘dance about, jump for joy’, but this has now died out, leaving it in splendid but puzzling isolation, its ancestry unaccounted for. Its underlying meaning appears to be ‘make rapid movements for purposes of recreation’, but already in Old English times it was being used for ‘perform on a musical instrument’. The earliest record of the use of the noun for a ‘dramatic work’ is from the 14th century.

play (v.): Old English plegan, plegian "move rapidly, occupy or busy oneself, exercise; frolic; make sport of, mock; perform music," from West Germanic *plegan "occupy oneself about" (cognates: Old Saxon plegan "vouch for, take charge of," Old Frisian plega "tend to," Middle Dutch pleyen "to rejoice, be glad," German pflegen "take care of, cultivate"), from PIE root *dlegh- "to engage oneself," forming words in Celtic, Germanic, Slavic, and possibly Latin. Meaning "to take part in a game" is from c. 1200. Opposed to work (v.) since late 14c. Related: Played; playing. To play up "emphasize" is from 1909; to play down "minimize" is from 1930; to play along "cooperate" is from 1929. To play with oneself "masturbate" is from 1896; play for keeps is from 1861, originally of marbles or other children's games with tokens. To play second fiddle in the figurative sense is from 1809 ("Gil Blas"). To play into the hands (of someone) is from 1705. To play the _______ card is attested from 1886; to play fair is from mid-15c. To play (something) safe is from 1911; to play favorites is attested from 1902. For play the field see field (n.).

play (n.): Old English plega (West Saxon), plæga (Anglian) "quick motion; recreation, exercise, any brisk activity" (the latter sense preserved in swordplay, etc.), from or related to Old English plegan (see play (v.)). Meaning "dramatic performance" is attested by early 14c., perhaps late Old English. Meaning "free or unimpeded movement" of mechanisms, etc., is from c. 1200. By early Middle English it could mean variously, "a game, a martial sport, activity of children, joke or jesting, revelry, sexual indulgence." Sporting sense "the playing of a game" first attested mid-15c.; sense of "specific maneuver or attempt" is from 1868. To be in play (of a hit ball, etc.) is from 1788. Play-by-play is attested from 1927. Play on words is from 1798. Play-money is attested from 1705 as "money won in gambling," by 1920 as "pretend money."