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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

entreat.

Senses relating to asking or pleading.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ɪnˈtɹiːt/Received-Pronunciation/ɛn-/Received-Pronunciation/ɪnˈtɹit/General-American/ɛn-/General-American
  1. Senses relating to asking or pleading. To ask earnestly or beg for (something, such as a benefit or favour).

    transitive
  2. Senses relating to asking or pleading. To earnestly ask or beg (someone); to beseech, to implore.

    transitive
  3. Senses relating to asking or pleading. To try to influence or persuade (someone); to induce, to prevail upon.

    obsolete · transitive
  4. Senses relating to asking or pleading. Often followed by for: to ask earnestly or to beg for a benefit, favour, etc.; to appeal, to plead.

    intransitive
  5. Senses relating to asking or pleading. To make a petition or request on behalf of someone; to intercede, to plead.

    archaic · intransitive
  6. Senses relating to dealing with or negotiating. To act towards or deal with (someone or something) in a specified manner; to handle, to treat.

    obsolete · transitive
  7. Senses relating to dealing with or negotiating. To discuss or negotiate (something); also, to discuss or negotiate with (someone).

    obsolete · transitive
  8. Senses relating to dealing with or negotiating. To occupy oneself with (something).

    obsolete · reflexive · transitive
  9. Senses relating to dealing with or negotiating. Sometimes followed by of or upon: to give an account or description of a matter; to deal with.

    intransitive · obsolete
  10. Senses relating to dealing with or negotiating. Often followed by about, for, or of: to discuss or negotiate, especially in order to reach a settlement.

    intransitive · obsolete
Where this word comes from

The verb is derived from Late Middle English entreten (“to deal with (someone) in a specified way; to concern oneself with (something); to deal with or give an account of (a topic); to engage in negotiation; to intercede for (someone); to plead with (someone)”), from Anglo-Norman entraiter, entretier (“to concern oneself with (something); to deal with (someone) in a specified manner; to have a conversation with (someone); to negotiate (with someone, or about something)”), Middle French entraiter, entraictier, and Old French entraictier (“to have a conversation with (someone); to concern oneself with (something)”), from en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’) + traiter (“to be concerned with (something); to treat (someone) in a specified way”) (from Latin tractāre, the present active infinitive of tractō (“to handle, manage; to drag, haul”), from trahō (“to drag, pull; etc.”) (see that entry for the further etymology) + -tō (frequentative suffix)). The noun is derived from Late Middle English entrete (“agreement; negotiation; treatment of a subject in discourse”), from the verb.

noun/ɪnˈtɹiːt/Received-Pronunciation/ɛn-/Received-Pronunciation/ɪnˈtɹit/General-American/ɛn-/General-American
  1. Synonym of entreaty (“an act of asking earnestly or begging for something”); an appeal, a plea.

    obsolete
Where this word comes from

The verb is derived from Late Middle English entreten (“to deal with (someone) in a specified way; to concern oneself with (something); to deal with or give an account of (a topic); to engage in negotiation; to intercede for (someone); to plead with (someone)”), from Anglo-Norman entraiter, entretier (“to concern oneself with (something); to deal with (someone) in a specified manner; to have a conversation with (someone); to negotiate (with someone, or about something)”), Middle French entraiter, entraictier, and Old French entraictier (“to have a conversation with (someone); to concern oneself with (something)”), from en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’) + traiter (“to be concerned with (something); to treat (someone) in a specified way”) (from Latin tractāre, the present active infinitive of tractō (“to handle, manage; to drag, haul”), from trahō (“to drag, pull; etc.”) (see that entry for the further etymology) + -tō (frequentative suffix)). The noun is derived from Late Middle English entrete (“agreement; negotiation; treatment of a subject in discourse”), from the verb.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.