entertain
v.v. to provide enjoyment or interest for other people. You can also use it to mean thinking about an idea or hosting guests at your home.
v. to provide amusement or enjoyment to an audience; to receive and provide hospitality for guests. In a cognitive sense, it describes the act of considering an idea or feeling.
The magician knows how to entertain a large crowd.
The company often uses the private box at the stadium to entertain important clients during the football season.
While the board was willing to entertain the possibility of a merger, they remained skeptical about the long-term cultural fit between the two organizations.
From Middle English entertenen, from Middle French entretenir, from Old French entretenir, from entre (“among”) + tenir (“to hold”), from Latin inter + teneō (“hold, keep”). For the noun, compare French entretien. Sense of answering a phone call in Malaysian English is influenced by Malay layan “to serve, to attend to or engage with something”.
Transitive; requires a direct object such as an audience, a guest, or an idea.