entertain
Syllables: en·ter·tainUK/ˌɛntəˈteɪn//ˌɛntɚˈteɪn/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
entertain verb: to amuse (someone); to engage the attention of agreeably.
Verb
entertain (third-person singular simple present entertains, present participle entertaining, simple past and past participle entertained)
- 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.
- 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[…]1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Hebrews 13:2
- 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
- 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.c. 1589–1590 (date written), Christopher Marlo[we], edited by Tho[mas] Heywood, The Famous Tragedy of the Rich Iew of Malta. […], London: […] I[ohn] B[eale] for Nicholas Vavasour, […], published... - You, sir, I entertain for one of my hundred.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- Intreat 'em fair, and give them friendly speech,
- To meet or encounter, as an enemy.
- O noble English, that could entertain with half their forces the full pride of France1599 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Life of Henry the Fift”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount...
- Penalty for entertaining a Deserter1860, British Parliament, Naval Discipline Act, page 1069
- To lead on; to bring along; to introduce.
- to baptize all nations, and to entertain them into the services and institutions of the holy Jesus1651–1653, Jer[emy] Taylor, ΕΝΙΑΥΤΟΣ [Eniautos]. A Course of Sermons for All the Sundays of the Year. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Richard Royston […], published 1655, →OCLC
- To help; to assist; to answer a phone call.
Noun
entertain (uncountable)
- 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 […]c. 1603 (date written), Iohn Marston, The Malcontent, London: […] V[alentine] S[immes] for William Aspley, […], published 1604, →OCLC, Act V, scene iii
- Reception of a guest; welcome.
- But neede, that answers not to all requests, / Bad them not looke for better entertayne […]1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book IV, Canto VIII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC
entertain meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
entertain in Hindi
- to amuse
- बहलाना bahlānā
entertain in Tamil
- விருந்தோம்பு, உபசரி, கேளிக்கை செய், மகிழச் செய், மகிழ்வி, ஒரு கருத்தையோ
entertain in Marathi
- मनोरंजन करणे
entertain in Urdu
- دعوت دینا, میزبانی کرنا
More languagesFewer languages
- entertain in Bengali
- বিনোদন করা, আপ্যায়ন করা
- entertain in Malayalam
- വിരുന്നുനല്കുക, പ്രോത്സാഹിപ്പിക്കുക, സത്കരിക്കുക, വിനോദിപ്പിക്കുക
- entertain in Kannada
- ಸಂತೋಷಗೊಳಿಸು, ಮನೋರಂಜನೆ ಕೊಡು, ವಿನೋದಪಡಿಸು, ಹಾಸ್ಯವನ್ನು ಪ್ರದರ್ಶಿಸು
- entertain in Gujarati
- મનોરંજન કરવા
- entertain in Odia
- ମନୋରଞ୍ଜନ କରିବା
- entertain in Sanskrit
- बन्धति bándhati, बध्नाति badhnā́ti
- entertain in Nepali
- पाल्नु pālnu
- entertain in Vietnamese
- giải trí, tiêu khiển
Examples of entertain in a sentence
- I am not here going to entertain so large a theme as the philosophy of Locke.1851, Thomas De Quincey, Literary Reminiscences:
- A rumour gained ground, — and, however absurd, was entertained by some very sensible people.1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC:
Forms of entertain
| third-person singular present | entertains |
|---|---|
| present participle | entertaining |
| past participle | entertained |
| past | entertained |
| alternative form | entertaine |
Origin of entertain
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”.
Words formed from entertain
Words that rhyme with entertain
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- drain
- pane
- gain
- main
- sustain
- vein
- skein
- Wayne
- abstain
- bane
- campaign
- champagne
- crane
- entrain
- fain
- insane
- maine
- pain
- plane
- stain
- wane
- Aquitaine
- ascertain
- chicane
- contain
- detain
- explain
- maintain
- mundane
- obtain
- refrain
- remain
- vane
- amain
- arcane
- Blaine
- complain
- deign
- detrain
- distrain
- kane
- ordain
- pertain
- profane
- public domain
- reign
- swain
- terrain
Questions about entertain
- What does entertain mean?
- Entertain means to amuse (someone); to engage the attention of agreeably.
- What is entertain in Hindi?
- Entertain in Hindi is बहलाना (bahlānā). See Entertain meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use entertain in a sentence?
- I am not here going to entertain so large a theme as the philosophy of Locke.
- What part of speech is entertain?
- Entertain can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce entertain?
- Entertain is pronounced /ˌɛntəˈteɪn/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of entertain?
- The past tense of entertain is entertained.
Words near entertain in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: entertain (page history and authors); entertain (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); entertain (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); entertain (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); entertain (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); entertain (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); entertain (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); entertain (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); entertain (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); बध्नाति (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); पाल्नु (Nepali) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “entertain.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/entertain. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.