entertain

The story

1. Latin · derived frominter
2. Old French · derived fromentretenir
3. Middle French · derived fromentretenir
4. Middle English · inherited fromentertenen
5. English todayentertain

From Middle English entertenen, from Middle French entretenir, from Old French entretenir, from entre (“among”) + tenir (“to hold”), from Latin inter + teneō (“hold, keep”). For the noun, compare French entretien. Sense of answering a phone call in Malaysian English is influenced by Malay layan “to serve, to attend to or engage with something”.

Words from the same roots