entertainment

== English == === Alternative forms === entretainment (chiefly archaic), intertainment (archaic) === Etymology === From Middle English entretenement (“support, maintenance”), from Old French entretenement; see entertain. Morphologically entertain +‎ -ment. === Pronunciation === (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˌɛn.təˈteɪn.mənt/ (General American) IPA(key): /ˌɛn.tɚˈteɪn.mənt/ Rhymes: -eɪnmənt Hyphenation: en‧ter‧tain‧ment === Noun === entertainment (countable and uncountable, plural entertainments) An activity designed to give pleasure, enjoyment, diversion, amusement, or relaxation to an audience, no matter whether the audience participates passively as in watching opera or a movie, or actively as in games. A show put on for the enjoyment or amusement of others. (obsolete) Maintenance or support. (obsolete) An admission into service; a service. (obsolete) The payment of soldiers or servants; wages. (obsolete) A reception; a (provision of) food to guests or travellers. ==== Derived terms ==== ==== Translations ==== === Further reading === “entertainment”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin Eli Smith, editors (1895–1910), “entertainment”, in The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia: […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. “entertainment”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. === Anagrams === entretainment