ENTERTAIN

entertain, think of, toy with, flirt with, think about

(verb) take into consideration, have in view; “He entertained the notion of moving to South America”

harbor, harbour, hold, entertain, nurse

(verb) maintain (a theory, thoughts, or feelings); “bear a grudge”; “entertain interesting notions”; “harbor a resentment”

entertain

(verb) provide entertainment for

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Verb

entertain (third-person singular simple present entertains, present participle entertaining, simple past and past participle entertained)

(transitive) To amuse (someone); to engage the attention of agreeably.

(transitive and intransitive) To have someone over at one's home for a party or visit.

(transitive) To receive and take into consideration; to have a thought in mind.

(obsolete) To take or keep in one's service; to maintain; to support; to harbour; to keep.

(obsolete) To meet or encounter, as an enemy.

(obsolete) To lead on; to bring along; to introduce.

Noun

entertain (uncountable)

(obsolete) Entertainment; pleasure.

(obsolete) Reception of a guest; welcome.

Anagrams

• Tarentine, Terentian, antienter

Source: Wiktionary


En`ter*tain", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Entertained; p. pr. & vb. n. Entertaining.] Etym: [F. entretenir; entre between (L. inter) + tenir to hold, L. tenere. See Tenable.]

1. To be at the charges of; to take or keep in one's service; to maintain; to support; to harbor; to keep.

You, sir, I entertain for one of my hundred. Shak.

2. To give hospitable reception and maintenance to; to receive at one's board, or into one's house; to receive as a guest. Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for thereby some have entertained unawares. Heb. xiii. 2.

3. To engage the attention of agreeably; to amuse with that which makes the time pass pleasantly; to divert; as, to entertain friends with conversation, etc. The weary time she can not entertain. Shak.

4. To give reception to; to receive, in general; to receive and take into consideration; to admit, treat, or make use of; as, to entertain a proposal. I am not here going to entertain so large a theme as the philosophy of Locke. De Quincey. A rumor gained ground, -- and, however absurd, was entertained by some very sensible people. Hawthorne.

5. To meet or encounter, as an enemy. [Obs.] Shak.

6. To keep, hold, or maintain in the mind with favor; to keep in the mind; to harbor; to cherish; as, to entertain sentiments.

7. To lead on; to bring along; to introduce. [Obs.] To baptize all nations, and entertain them into the services institutions of the holy Jesus. Jer. Taylor.

Syn.

– To amuse; divert; maintain. See Amuse.

En`ter*tain", v. i.

Definition: To receive, or provide entertainment for, guests; as, he entertains generously.

En`ter*tain", n. Etym: [Cf. F. entretien, fr. entretenir.]

Definition: Entertainment. [Obs.] Spenser.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Coffee Trivia

The earliest credible evidence of coffee-drinking as the modern beverage appeared in modern-day Yemen. In the middle of the 15th century in Sufi shrines where coffee seeds were first roasted and brewed for drinking. The Yemenis procured the coffee beans from the Ethiopian Highlands.

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