What is Entertaiment?

Entertaiment is a form of recreation that can be found in movies, books, games, music, art, and other forms of creative expression. It can bring joy and stimulate learning, but it can also have negative effects if overused or exploited [1]. What is considered entertainment may vary greatly between individuals and groups. For example, a movie that provides entertainment to one audience may be viewed as torture or below human dignity by another.

The word “entertainment” derives from the Middle French entretenir, which itself is derived from the Latin intertenere meaning “to hold inside.” The prefix inter and suffix tere both mean to hold or maintain, and the Indo-European root ten is related to the word for bowel or intestine through the Greek word enteron.