retinue

R1E1T1I1N1U1E1
UK/ˈɹɛ.tɪ.njuː/US/ˈɹɛ.tɪ.n(j)uː/obsolete/ɹɪˈtɪnjuː/

noun

A group of attendants or servants, especially of someone considered important.

“the queen’s retinues”

UncommonScrabble 7

Meanings

nounretinue (plural retinues)

plural retinues

  1. collectiveA group of attendants or servants, especially of someone considered important.

    the queen’s retinues

    2 more examples

    And not any longer as a king did Winter appear in those streets, as when the city was decked with gleaming white to greet him as a conqueror and he rode in with his glittering icicles and haughty retinue of prancing winds, but he sat there with a little wind at the corner of the street like some old blind beggar with his hungry dog.

    1915 April, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], “Spring in Town”, in Fifty-one Tales, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, →OCLC

    12 July 2012, Sam Adams, AV Club Ice Age: Continental Drift Preceded by a Simpsons short shot in 3-D—perhaps the only thing more superfluous than a fourth Ice Age movie—Ice Age: Continental Drift finds a retinue of vaguely contemporaneous animals coping with life in the post-Pangaea age.

    Synonyms: entourage, retain, cortege

  2. A group of warriors or nobles accompanying a king or other leader; comitatus.

    Then Igor looked up at the bright sun and saw all his warriors / darkened from it by a shadow. / And Igor said to his retinue: / “Brothers and companions! It is better to be slain than taken captive. / Mount, brothers, your swift horses that we may glimpse the Blue Don.”

    1992, J. A. V. Haney and Eric Dahl, “On Igor’s Campaign” (translation of Слово о плъку Игоревѣ)
  3. obsoleteA service relationship.

Synonyms & antonyms

nounA group of attendants or servants, especially of someone considered important.

More synonyms by meaning

nounthe group following and attending to some important person

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Old Frenchretenue
  2. Middle Englishretenue
  3. Englishretinue

From Middle English retenue, from Old French retenue, past participle of retenir (“retain”). Doublet of ritenuto.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek παραδρομή
  • παραδρομή (paradromḗ)group of servants
Bulgarian свита, кортеж
  • свита (svita)group of servants
  • кортеж (kortež)comitatus
Catalan seguici, seguici
  • seguicigroup of servants
  • seguicicomitatus
Chinese Mandarin 随从, 随员
  • 随从group of servants
  • 随员 (suíyuán)group of servants
Dutch gevolg, hofhouding
  • gevolggroup of servants
  • hofhoudinggroup of servants
  • hofstoetgroup of servants
Esperanto akompanantaro
  • akompanantarogroup of servants
Finnish seurue, seurue
  • seuruegroup of servants
  • seuruecomitatus
  • palvelussuhdeservice relationship
French suite, retenue
  • suitegroup of servants
  • retenuecomitatus
German Gefolge
  • Gefolgecomitatus
Irish cóisir
  • cóisirgroup of servants
Italian seguito
  • seguitogroup of servants
Latin comitātus, comitātus
  • comitātusgroup of servants
  • comitātuscomitatus
  • cohorscomitatus
Māori apataki, hikuroa
  • apatakigroup of servants
  • hikuroagroup of servants
  • hikuhikugroup of servants
  • apatakicomitatus
  • hikuroacomitatus
  • hikuhikucomitatus
Polish świta, asysta
  • świtagroup of servants
  • asystagroup of servants
  • asystencjagroup of servants
Portuguese séquito
  • séquitogroup of servants
Russian сви́та, дружи́на
  • сви́та (svíta)group of servants
  • дружи́на (družína)comitatus
Spanish servidumbre, mesnada
  • servidumbregroup of servants
  • mesnadacomitatus
Swedish följe, uppvaktning
  • följegroup of servants
  • uppvaktninggroup of servants
Ukrainian по́чет, сви́та
  • по́чет (póčet)group of servants
  • сви́та (svýta)group of servants
  • дружи́на (družýna)comitatus
Welsh nifer, nifer
  • nifergroup of servants
  • nifercomitatus

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

retinue. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retinue

MLA

“retinue.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retinue. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “retinue,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/retinue.

Source: retinue on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.