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.

---

entirety British  

/ ɪnˈtaɪərɪtɪ /

noun

1. the state of being entire or whole; completeness

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

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• entireties
  plural

Etymology

Origin of entirety

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

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

There is no language they can’t learn and no reference too obscure for them to cross-check against the entirety of their training data.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026

For the entirety of his short life at the neonatal intensive care unit, he had the cannula through his nose to facilitate his breathing and a feeding tube between his lips.

From Slate ● Jul. 19, 2026

The first would indicate music that is primarily "AI-generated" -- cases where artificial intelligence "was used to generate the entirety or the primary portion of the creative elements of the recording."

From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026

For the entirety of “Avatar,” Aang’s loved ones and allies try to persuade him that the only way to stop the Fire Nation is to kill its despotic ruler, Lord Ozai.

From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026

We’re above the lake and high enough that I can see Uhuru in its entirety.

From "The Manifestor Prophecy" by Angie Thomas

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 Freeman, Mary Eleanor Wilkins