Entertaiment is the act of presenting or arranging entertainment for an audience. It is a broad term that encompasses any activity that provides pleasure to an audience, whether it is an individual choosing from a wide variety of pre-recorded entertainments; to an entire event such as a theater production, banquet or party; or even a global television audience. Entertainment may also serve a more serious purpose such as ceremonies, religious festivals or satire.
From Middle English entertainment, from the Medieval Latin entretenement, from inter- “between” (from Latin inter-) + tenere, from the Indo-European root ten- (“to stretch”). The sense of “maintain, keep up” is first attested in the late 15th century; that of “gratify, amuse” is 1610s. The suffix -ment is common with verb stems in English, as in amazement, betterment and merriment.