Entertain

How to spell entertain

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce entertain

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does entertain mean?

1. verbTo hold the attention of an audience or group in an enjoyable way.
2. verbTo receive and look after guests, often with food and drink.
3. verbTo give serious thought to a possibility, suggestion, or feeling.

Entertain in a sentence

• The magician was hired to entertain the children at the party.

• They often entertain clients at the new restaurant downtown.

• The board refused to entertain any proposal that raised costs.

• A good speaker can entertain a crowd for an hour without notes.

• We love to entertain friends in the garden during summer.

• She would not entertain the idea of moving abroad.

Where does entertain come from?

Language of origin: French

This word came into English in the late 1400s from the Old French entretenir, which literally meant 'to hold together' or 'to keep up'. That French verb was built from the Latin inter, meaning 'among' or 'between', and tenere, meaning 'to hold', a root that also gives us 'contain', 'retain', and 'maintain'. The earliest English sense was to maintain or keep something going, and from there it broadened to keeping guests occupied and pleased, which is now the dominant meaning. The idea of 'holding' someone's attention also produced the figurative sense of holding an idea in the mind, as in entertaining a thought. The hidden 'enter-' spelling, rather than 'inter-', preserves the French form English actually borrowed, which is the small trap for writers who expect the Latin prefix.

How the word is built

• enter- (from Latin inter: among, between)
• -tain (from Latin tenere: to hold)