Link Centre Dictionary

entertain

en·ter·tain

UK/ˌɛntəˈteɪn/ US/ˌɛntɚˈteɪn/ fairly common

verb

1.
2.

take into consideration, have in view

  • “He entertained the notion of moving to South America”
Synonyms
3.

maintain (a theory, thoughts, or feelings)

  • “bear a grudge”
  • “entertain interesting notions”
  • “harbor a resentment”
Synonyms

Origin

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”.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.