What Makes Entertainment So Appealing?

Entertainment can be anything from a playful children’s game to a serious opera or even an investigative documentary. It can provide an emotional “cleanse” through a cathartic experience, or it can be a cerebral engagement with puzzles or video games that require strategic thinking. Entertainment can be shared between friends, family members, or strangers, as with a concert or a television show, or it can be enjoyed alone, like a good book or a quiet afternoon spent on a crossword puzzle.

What makes entertainment so appealing is its infinitely varying forms and media. It caters to the complexities of human emotion and intellect, and offers a diverse array of experiences that range from escapism to education, from humor to erotica.

The History of the Word Entertainment

The word entertain is derived from the Latin intertenere, from the prefix inter meaning “inside” and the suffix tenere, from the Indo-European root ten, which means to hold.