entertainment

American  

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

noun

1. the act of 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.

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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

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Other Word Forms

• nonentertainment
  noun
• preentertainment
  noun
• self-entertainment
  noun

Etymology

Origin of entertainment

First recorded in 1525–35; entertain + -ment

Explanation

Entertainment is amusement, usually involving a performance. The clown at a birthday party, a Broadway show, a stadium rock concert, your friends fighting over the last potato chip––these are all forms of entertainment. Entertainment is from the Old French word entretenir meaning hold together or support. It was associated with hospitality––when you entertained a guest, you were keeping them happy. From there, it came to mean amuse or distract. The entertainment is the amusement or the distraction––we talk about theatrical entertainment as shows, visual entertainment as the stuff you like to look at, and audio entertainment as mostly music.

Example Sentences

"I feel like the show is on us. I feel like without us there wouldn't be a tournament and there wouldn't be that entertainment."

From BBC • May 5, 2026

A decade ago, Vox was among a handful of digital-media companies—including BuzzFeed and Vice Media—that were seen as the future of news and entertainment because of their buzzy headlines and edgy content.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 5, 2026

Roblox is a company that has always taken a long-term outlook, building a platform of millions of social environments for gaming, entertainment or just hanging out.

From Barron's • May 4, 2026

Partly due to its proximity to the entertainment industry, North Hollywood High has produced a host of famous artists over the decades, including the late Michael Tilson Thomas, who attended in the early 1960s.

From Los Angeles Times • May 4, 2026

I couldn’t imagine what, except maybe stand up on the stage and be short, and I never heard of a show where part of the entertainment was somebody being short.

From "The Best School Year Ever" by Barbara Robinson