Ĕn'ter-tāin'1, v. t.
v. t. [imp. & p. p. ENTERTAINED; p. pr. & vb. n. ENTERTAINING.] [Fr. entretenir, from entre, between, Lat. inter, and tenir, to hold, Lat. tenere; Pr. entretenir, Sp. entretener, It. intrattenere.]
Sense 1. To be at the charges of; to keep up; to sustain in one’s service; to maintain; to support.
You, sir, I entertain for one of my hundred. Shak.
Sense 2. To give hospitable reception and maintenance to; to receive at one’s board, or to one’s bed and board; to show hospitality to; to receive as host.
Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for thereby some have entertained angels unawares. Heb. xiii. 2.
Sense 3. To engage agreeably the attention of; to amuse with that which makes the time pass pleasantly; to divert; as, to entertain friends with conversation, music, &c.
Sense 4. To give reception to; to receive and take into consideration; to admit, treat, or make use of; to accept; as, to entertain a proposal.
I am not here going to entertain so large a theme as the philosophy of Locke. De Quincey.
Sense 5. To keep, hold, or maintain in the mind with favor; to reserve in the mind; to harbor; to cherish; as, to entertain charitable sentiments toward our fellow-men.
Sense 6. To lead on; to bring along; to introduce. [Obs.]
To baptize all nations, and entertain them into the services and institutions of the holy Jesus. Bp. Taylor.
Synonyms—To amuse; divert; maintain. See AMUSE.