WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Grat"i*fy
Part of Speech : v.
Etymology : [F. gratifier, L. gratificari; gratus pleasing + - ficare (in comp.) to make. See -fy.]
Definition : 1. To please; to give pleasure to; to satisfy; to soothe; to indulge; as, to gratify the taste, the appetite, the senses, the desires, the mind, etc. For who would die to gratify a foe Dryden.

2. To requite; to recompense. [Obs.] It remains . . . To gratify his noble service. Shak.

Syn. -- To indulge; humor please; delight; requite; recompense. -- To Gratify, Indulge, Humor. Gratify, is the generic term, and has reference simply to the pleasure communicated. To indulge a person implies that we concede something to his wishes or his weaknesses which he could not claim, and which had better, perhaps, be spared. To humor is to adapt ourselves to the varying moods, and, perhaps, caprices, of others. We gratify a child by showing him the sights of a large city; we indulge him in some extra expense on such an occasion; we humor him when he is tired and exacting.

t. [imp. & p. p. Gratified; p. pr. & vb. n. Gratifying.]
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913