late 15c., "to keep up, maintain, to keep (someone) in a certain frame of mind," from Old French
entretenir
"hold together, stick together, support" (12c.), from
entre-
"among" (from Latin
inter
; see
inter-
) +
tenir
"to hold" (from Latin
tenere
, from PIE root
*ten-
"to stretch").
Sense of "have a guest" is late 15c.; that of "gratify, amuse" is 1620s. Meaning "to allow (something) to consideration, take into the mind" (of opinions, notions, etc.) is 1610s. Related:
Entertained
;
entertaining
.