Entertaiment is a wide-ranging and highly adaptable activity that may be aimed at any audience of any size or demographic, from one person choosing their private entertainment out of the enormously broad range available; to two people enjoying a banquet with appropriate music and dance; to performances intended for thousands and even for the global public. Entertaiment can be serious or merely amusing, and its forms are as diverse as the many cultures that practice it. Click on a collocation to see more examples.

From Medieval Latin intertenere, from the prefix inter meaning “inside” and the suffix tenere to hold. Also related to entertain, a word with the same root meaning ‘to stretch or extend’ (literally).