entail

[ verb en-teyl; noun en-teyl, en-teyl ]

verb (used with object)

1. to cause or involve by necessity or as a consequence:

   a loss entailing no regret.

2. to impose as a burden:

   Success entails hard work.

3. Law. to limit the passage of (real estate) to a specified line of heirs, so that it cannot be transferred or bequeathed to anyone else.
4. Law. to cause (anything) to descend to a fixed series of possessors.

noun

1. the act of entailing.
2. Law. the state of being entailed.
3. any predetermined order of succession, as to an office.
4. Law. something that is entailed, as an estate.
5. Law. the rule of descent settled for an estate.

entail

/ ɪnˈteɪl /

verb

1. to bring about or impose by necessity; have as a necessary consequence

   this task entails careful thought

2. property law to restrict (the descent of an estate) to a designated line of heirs
3. logic to have as a necessary consequence

noun

1. property law
   1. the restriction imposed by entailing an estate
   2. an estate that has been entailed

Derived Forms

• enˈtailer, noun

Other Words From

• en·tail·er noun
• en·tail·ment noun
• pre·en·tail verb (used with object)

Word History and Origins

Origin of entail¹

First recorded in 1350–1400; from Middle English entailen (verb), entail (noun), equivalent to en- ¹ + tail ²( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of entail¹

C14: entaillen , from en- ¹+ taille limitation, tail ²

Example Sentences

With this news, what buckling down entails has changed for you, awfully — but the underlying task of doing what is necessary and available to you has not changed.

From Washington Post

Does political and social equality really have to entail a leveling of sexual difference?

From The Daily Beast

Some parents have transportation problems that entail further costs.

From The Daily Beast

Foley was a risk taker who reported from the front lines, fully aware of the dangers that might entail.

From The Daily Beast

He or she can work with you to map out an individualized plan, which may entail taking the hormone melatonin.

From The Daily Beast

Exactly what his appointments entail, and how much he can charge clients, often depends on the city.

From The Daily Beast

Personal and Social Covenanting both entail obligation on the Covenanting parties.

From Project Gutenberg

But men also humiliate us, degrade us, jeer at, ridicule the miseries that they and their society entail upon us.

From Project Gutenberg

The mention by Hogarth of Ridley and Latimer they considered irrelevant; their fathers' heroic mood was a detail: not an entail.

From Project Gutenberg

He hadn't been specific about what the "or else" would entail.

From Project Gutenberg

It cannot, Sir Wycherly; nor with a will, so long as an heir of entail can be found.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• bring about
• call for
• encompass
• involve
• lead to
• necessitate
• require