retinue
[ret-n-oo, -yoo]
- a body of retainers in attendance upon an important personage; suite.
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Origin of retinue
1325–75; Middle English retinue < Middle French, noun use of feminine past participle of retenir to retain
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for retinue
Contemporary Examples
First charged with “piracy,” each member of the retinue now faces seven years in jail if found guilty of “hooliganism.”
And then his retinue of friends and spiritual advisors arrived, and he floated away on a cloud of "insiderdom" and "privilege."
There is a usually a retinue of “reliable” Mohalells in each pious community.
The retinue has been the subject of much media attention.
Historical Examples
My brother was servile; he has attached himself to the retinue of a wealthy Baroness.
City of Endless NightMilo Hastings
The intervention of the retinue of Roderic was scarcely admitted.
ImogenWilliam Godwin
I have fled from myself; I have fled from the magnificence of my retinue, to find variety.
ImogenWilliam Godwin
His equipages and retinue were of a kind to match his personal effulgence.
The Historical Nights Entertainment, Second SeriesRafael Sabatini
He provided a house for her, and assigned to her service a retinue of domestics.
retinue
- a body of aides and retainers attending an important person, royalty, etc
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Word Origin
C14: from Old French retenue, from retenir to retain
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for retinue
n.
late 14c., from Old French retenue "group of followers, state of service," literally "that which is retained," noun use of fem. past participle of retenir "to employ, to retain, hold back" (see retain). Related: Retinular.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper