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entertainment

American  
[en-ter-teyn-muhnt] / ˌɛn tərˈteɪn mənt /

noun

  1. the act of entertaining; entertaining; agreeable occupation for the mind; diversion; amusement.

    Solving the daily crossword puzzle is an entertainment for many.

  2. something affording pleasure, diversion, or amusement, especially a performance of some kind.

    The highlight of the ball was an elaborate entertainment.

  3. hospitable provision for the needs and wants of guests.

  4. a divertingly adventurous, comic, or picaresque novel.

  5. Obsolete. maintenance in service.

entertainment British  
/ ˌɛntəˈteɪnmənt /

noun

  1. the act or art of entertaining or state of being entertained

  2. an act, production, etc, that entertains; diversion; amusement

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • nonentertainment noun
  • preentertainment noun
  • self-entertainment noun

Etymology

Origin of entertainment

First recorded in 1525–35; entertain + -ment

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.