Entertaiment is entertainment for the masses and is a great way to distract, amuse, and even educate the populace. It’s the reason why we have movies, TV shows, books, poetry, and visual arts to enjoy and enrich our lives. It hits on the points of life that we were evolved to react deeply to, such as murders and backstabbing in social circles.
This article was originally published in November 2017. It has since been updated.
The word entertain comes from the Medieval Latin intertenere, with the prefix inter meaning “inside” and the suffix tenere referring to holding or maintaining something. It is a similar root to the Indo-European ten, which means to stretch.