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Dictionary

Words, grammatical forms and meanings linked to the ontology.

retinue en · NOUN

Pronunciation

  • (US) audio
  • /ˈɹɛ.tɪ.n(j)uː/ (US)
  • /ɹɪˈtɪnjuː/ (obsolete)
  • (US) audio
  • /ˈɹɛ.tɪ.njuː/ (Received-Pronunciation)

Etymology

From Middle English retenue, from Old French retenue, past participle of retenir (“retain”). Doublet of ritenuto.

Meanings

  1. (collective) A group of attendants or servants, especially of someone considered important.
    • And not any longer as a king did Winter appear in those streets, as when the city was decked with gleaming white to greet him as a conqueror and he rode in with his glittering icicles and haughty retinue of prancing winds, but he sat there with a little wind at the corner of the street like some old blind beggar with his hungry dog. 1915 April, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], “Spring in Town”, in Fifty-one Tales, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, →OCLC:
    • the queen’s retinues
    • 12 July 2012, Sam Adams, AV Club Ice Age: Continental Drift Preceded by a Simpsons short shot in 3-D—perhaps the only thing more superfluous than a fourth Ice Age movie—Ice Age: Continental Drift finds a retinue of vaguely contemporaneous animals coping with life in the post-Pangaea age.
  2. A group of warriors or nobles accompanying a king or other leader; comitatus.
    • Then Igor looked up at the bright sun and saw all his warriors / darkened from it by a shadow. / And Igor said to his retinue: / “Brothers and companions! It is better to be slain than taken captive. / Mount, brothers, your swift horses that we may glimpse the Blue Don.” 1992, J. A. V. Haney and Eric Dahl, “On Igor’s Campaign” (translation of Слово о плъку Игоревѣ)
  3. (obsolete) A service relationship.

Forms

SpellingFeaturesLabelsSource
retinues Number=Plur lexicographic

Deriveds

queen retinue pheromone · retinued

Relateds

hangers-on

Synonyms

entourage · retain · cortege

Translations (63)

enm retenue (service relationship) · mi hikuroa (group of servants) · fi seurue (group of servants) · enm meyne (group of servants) · uk сви́та (group of servants) · sh svita (group of servants) · nl hofhouding (group of servants) · wlm yniuer (group of servants) · pl świta (group of servants) · sv uppvaktning (group of servants) · ru сви́та (group of servants) · enm hird (group of servants) · la cohors (comitatus) · enm retenue (group of servants) · nl gevolg (group of servants) · bg свита (group of servants) · orv дружина (comitatus) · fr suite (group of servants) · gl acompañamento (comitatus) · la comitātus (comitatus) · fi palvelussuhde (service relationship) · wlm niuer (comitatus) · fr retenue (comitatus) · wlm yniuer (comitatus) · mi hikuroa (comitatus) · te పరివారము (group of servants) · ga cóisir (group of servants) · de Gefolge (comitatus) · it seguito (group of servants) · pl asystencja (group of servants) · uk по́чет (group of servants) · hy շքախումբ (group of servants) · bg кортеж (comitatus) · ru дружи́на (comitatus) · wlm niuer (group of servants) · mi hikuhiku (group of servants) · ca seguici (group of servants) · mi apataki (comitatus) · fi seurue (comitatus) · mi hikuhiku (comitatus) · mi apataki (group of servants) · grc παραδρομή (group of servants) · nl hofstoet (group of servants) · pt séquito (group of servants) · cy nifer (group of servants) · uk дружи́на (comitatus) · enm retenue (comitatus) · la comitātus (group of servants) · ca seguici (comitatus) · cy nifer (comitatus) · cmn 随员 (group of servants) · eo akompanantaro (group of servants) · cu дроужина (comitatus) · sv följe (group of servants) · es mesnada (comitatus) · enm hird (comitatus) · gl séquito (comitatus) · es servidumbre (group of servants) · mr लवाजमा (group of servants) · sa पटल (group of servants) · cmn 随从 (group of servants) · enm douthe (comitatus) · pl asysta (group of servants)