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entertain

verb
/ˌɛntəˈteɪn/UK/ˌɛntɚˈteɪn/US

Etymology

From Middle English entertenen, from Middle French entretenir, from Old French entretenir, from entre (“among”) + tenir (“to hold”), from Latin inter + teneō (“hold, keep”). For the noun, compare French entretien. Sense of answering a phone call in Malaysian English is influenced by Malay layan “to serve, to attend to or engage with something”.

  1. derived from inter
  2. derived from entretenir
  3. derived from entretenir
  4. inherited from entertenen

Definitions

  1. to amuse (someone)

    to amuse (someone); to engage the attention of agreeably

    • to entertain friends with lively conversation
    • The motivational speaker not only instructed but also entertained the audience.

  2. To have someone over at one's home, or some other venue, for a party or visit.

    • They enjoy entertaining a lot.
    • Be not forgetful to entertain strangers[…]

  3. to receive and take into consideration

    to receive and take into consideration; to have a thought in mind

    • The committee would like to entertain the idea of reducing the budget figures.
    • to entertain a proposal
    • I am not here going to entertain so large a theme as the philosophy of Locke.
  4. ›+ 6 more definitions

    1. to take or keep in one's service

      to take or keep in one's service; to maintain; to support; to harbour; to keep

      • Intreat 'em fair, and give them friendly speech, And seem to them as if thy sins were great, Till thou hast gotten to be entertain'd.
      • You, sir, I entertain for one of my hundred.

    2. to meet or encounter, as an enemy

      • O noble English, that could entertain with half their forces the full pride of France
      • Penalty for entertaining a Deserter

    3. to lead on

      to lead on; to bring along; to introduce

      • to baptize all nations, and to entertain them into the services and institutions of the holy Jesus

    4. to help

      to help; to assist; to answer a phone call

    5. Entertainment

      Entertainment; pleasure.

      • And Celſo, prethee let it be thy care to night / To haue ſome pretty ſhew, to ſolemnize / Our high inſtalement, ſome muſike maſkerie: / Weele giue faire entertaine vnto Maria […]

    6. Reception of a guest

      Reception of a guest; welcome.

      • But neede, that answers not to all requests, / Bad them not looke for better entertayne […]

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

A definitional loop anchored at entertain. Each word in the ring is defined by the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself. Scroll to it and watch.

01entertain02agreeably03pleasing04phrase05elaborating06elaborate07showy08calling09entertainer10entertains

A definitional loop anchored at entertain. Each word in the ring appears in the definition of the next; follow the chain far enough and it folds back on itself.

10 hops · closes at entertain

curated · pre-corpus. live cycle detection across the full graph is the next major milestone.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA