Entertaiment is a word that describes a situation or activity that gives pleasure, enjoyment, or amusement. Some examples of entertainment include music, games, movies, television, and other forms of recreation. It is important to remember that what provides entertainment for one person or group of people may not be entertaining to another. For example, while listening to lewd songs is an entertaining activity for some, it could be considered torture for others.

The etymology of the word entertainment can be traced back to Latin. The suffix -mentum was added to verb stems to form nouns that referred to the result or consequence of the action. When a verb ended in an i, the -e was often inserted (as in amazement, betterment, and merriment). The suffix also appeared in French, where it became -ment, and eventually entered English as entertain.

From the Medieval Latin intertenere, from entre- “among” + tenere “to hold inside,” from a PIE root ten, meaning to stretch. The sense of “gratify, amuse” is from late 15c.