What Is Entertaiment?

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Entertaiment is any activity that diverts or amuses people in their spare time. Its products may be created by a person, or consumed as pre-recorded entertainment. It is often associated with fun and laughter, but many entertainments have a serious purpose; this may be the case for ceremonies, festivals, religious celebrations, or satire. Entertainment has the capacity to cross over different media, and has demonstrated a seemingly unlimited potential for creative remix. Entertaiment often hits on themes that the brain was evolved to react deeply to, like social backstabbing and murders.

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From Middle English entretenement (“support, maintenance”), from Medieval Latin inter-tenere (“holding inside”); see entertain.