Entertaiment is a broad category that includes the arts, sports, and games, as well as other forms of recreation and amusement. Some of these are primarily entertainment, while others may also serve other societal needs. For example, scientific research and related educational activities are a form of entertainment that benefits society. These examples are automatically gathered from the web and do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Click on a word to see more examples.
The word entertain derives from the Middle French entretenement, which in turn comes from the Latin inter tenere, meaning to hold inside, and the Indo-European root ten, or stretch. In other words, it means “to keep or maintain someone’s attention or interest.”