Article
From the clown at a birthday party to the Broadway show to the stadium rock concert to your friends fighting over the last potato chip—all these things are entertainment. It can be an idea or a task, but it’s more often one of the activities that have developed over thousands of years specifically for the purpose of holding attention and interest and giving pleasure and delight. The word “entertain” itself comes from the Medieval Latin intertenere, which is derived from the Indo-European root tenere meaning to hold inside or keep inside. We think of theatrical entertainment as shows, visual entertainment as stuff you like to look at, and audio entertainment as mostly music.