entirety

American  

[en-tahyuhr-tee, -tahy-ri-] / ɛnˈtaɪər ti, -ˈtaɪ rɪ- /

noun

• entireties
  plural

1. the state of being entire; completeness.

   Homer's Iliad is rarely read in its entirety.

2. something that is entire; the whole.

   He devoted the entirety of his life to medical research.

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entirety British  

/ ɪnˈtaɪərɪtɪ /

noun

1. the state of being entire or whole; completeness

2. a thing, sum, amount, etc, that is entire; whole; total

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• entireties
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of entirety

1300–50; Middle English enter ( e ) te < Middle French entierete < Latin integritāt- (stem of integritās ). See integer, -ity

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Explanation

The noun entirety describes something that is total or complete, like when you eat a pizza in its entirety, leaving not even one slice for other people. The noun entirety comes from the Latin word integritas, meaning “untouched” or “whole.” If a televised football game goes long, the announcers might say, "Your local news will air in its entirely after the game." That means the news will be its normal length, not shortened. If you did your assigned reading in its entirety, it means you completed it, reading every page, not just skipping around.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

entirety entireties

Asked by the judge how he pleaded to the indictment against him, the 63-year-old responded, "I reject this document in its entirety."

From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026

Similarly, Francesca Marie Smith voiced Helga G. Pataki for the entirety of “Hey Arnold!” and up to “The Jungle Movie” in 2017.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

That’s the premise behind the Slate series Blogging the Bible, in which David Plotz spent a year reading his religion’s founding text in its entirety and reflecting on what he learned.

From Slate ● Oct. 2, 2026

Now it is a vulnerability, spreading its available air defenses thin across a landmass that is difficult to defend in its entirety.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 26, 2026

Suddenly, she whacked her fist against the glass, and a crack stretched along the entirety of the screen like a spiderweb, the colors distorting, bands of deep red stretching across the image.

From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny

In the same life, all the way through the balance of her teens and the entireties of her 20s and 30s, it figures she’s loath to use the word “retirement.”

From Washington Post ● Aug. 10, 2022

Richard was one who would always deal with entireties, being capable of no divisions nor subtleties of praise or blame.

From Madelon A Novel by Mary Eleanor Wilkins Freeman

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