Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The retainers or attendants accompanying a high-ranking person.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A body of retainers; a suite, as of a prince or other great personage; a train of persons; a cortège; a procession.
- n. An accompaniment; a concomitant.
Wiktionary
- n. A group of servants or attendants, especially of someone considered important.
- n. obsolete A service relationship.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The body of retainers who follow a prince or other distinguished person; a train of attendants; a suite.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the group following and attending to some important person
Etymologies
- From Middle English retenue, from Old French retenue, past participle of retenir ("retain") (Wiktionary)
- Middle English retenue, from Old French, from feminine past participle of retenir, to retain; see retain. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Ambassadors and retinue from the Constantinopolitan King had kissed the ground before Omar and had delivered their embassage, they brought out the presents, which were fifty damsels of the choicest from Graecia-land, and fifty Mamelukes in tunics of brocade, belted with girdles of gold and silver, each wearing in his ears hoops of gold with pendants of fine pearls costing a thousand ducats every one.”
“The great collector and party giver Arturo Lopez-Willshaw, costumed as the emperor of China, and his wife, Patricia, disembarked with their retinue from a Chinese junk.”
“When Providence frowns upon them their retinue is soon dispersed and scattered from them.”
“In 1959 the Dalai Lama's escape from his homeland produced a myth: that he had conjured up a belt of cloud to hide his retinue from the Chinese air force.”
“Eventually, he and his retinue were a show unto themselves, held over in New York and London.”
The Washington Post: Jim Steinmeyer's "The Last Greatest Magician in the World"
“A memorable part of his retinue is a fast-talking black cat called Behemoth, named after one of the Old Testament monsters.”
“He had come to accept the fact that he and his retinue were the only people left on earth.”
“In his retinue was a troop of comedians, a court fool, two dwarfs for luck, seven cooks, three alchemists and an astrologer.”
“As to politics, the will of the leader and his retinue is the rule of the Franks, and purge and bloodbath mark every stage in the rivalry of the Merovingian princes.”
“Among those who gave lodgings to the retinue were our good couple, who took in a lodger, for whom they were paid handsomely.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘retinue’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Words from Blood Meridian
visage, affray, scullery, miasma, mirth, purlieu, tacit, benighted, wickiup, corral, amble, accoutre and 210 more...
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common UA vocab. in US
Interesting, there is a traditional vocabulary of an Ukrainian, that differs from vocabulary of average American. It would be nice to explore it.
jackdaw, incongruous, cassock, vivid, magpie, humdrum, amongst, wonder, wandering, wheedling, wheedle, osseous and 368 more...
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Words build meanings from origins( et...
These come from gamma meditation ,I think.
discursive, exogenous, machinations, purportedly, sumptuous, congruity, cantankerous, incongruous, festoon, hessian, ratiocinative, stratigraphic and 2046 more...
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What follows
follow up, track, pursue, tail, keep abreast, chase after, stick with, tagalong, stick to, trail, camp follower, dog and 66 more...
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mots justes
No true synonyms, no other word will do.
dysphemism, nyehre, conflate, onomatopœic, galumph, zeitgeist, mercenary, theomeny, git, snarky, sass, smarmy and 46 more...
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big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
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Words I've found in reading.
paronomasia, spatulate, dun, cull, din, anthetic, thaumaturgic, natation, fettle, diurnal, simulacrum, propaedeutic and 14 more...
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Congregation
Clusters, gatherings, and groups of humans.
alliance, circle, council, federation, fraternity, league, assembly, company, group, flock, crowd, mob and 99 more...
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inkhorn's Words
inkhorn, aplomb, apotheosis, asinine, avatar, bombastic, boorish, bromide, bucolic, cagey, canvass, digress and 991 more...
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slumry's Words
cattywampus, ingratiate, lackadaisical, exactitude, exfoliate, fulminate, circumnavigation, circuitous, debride, sidle, sequester, chicory and 1002 more...
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words I love to use
kerfuffle, smarmy, sketchy, grim, wheedle, piffle, prattle, loggerheads, snarky, piddling, nix, caterwaul and 90 more...
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caspermilktoast's Words
frenetic, farrago, fandango, ensemble, assay, emulsion, taut, winnow, ridonkulous, ginormous, frisson, idee fixe and 181 more...
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Stumbled Words
A list of words that I stumbled upon while reading.
penumbra, prolix, propitious, resplendence, sepulchral, Weltschmerz, apparition, brigand, probity, chalice, paroxysm, pallor and 160 more...
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heart of darkness
yawl, sea-reach, offing, barge, sprit, estuary, yarn, aft, mizzenmast, placid, gauzy, diaphanous and 141 more...
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A Mini-Dictionary of Unfamiliar Words
This mini-dictionary was inspired by the novel and imaginative use of language in the following publications:
The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown; The Dice Man by Luke Rhinehart; Lullaby by...abase, anomie, antediluvium, aphorism, apropos, armoire, ascetic, atrium, austere, balustrade, bordello, catechism and 107 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for retinue.
dontcry Entourage wasn't good enough? Jun 11, 2008
kewpid An upmarket posse. Jun 11, 2008