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Retinue comes via Middle English from the Anglo-French verb retenir, meaning "to retain or keep in one's pay or service." Another retenir descendant is retainer, which has among its meanings "one who serves a person of high position or rank." In the 14th century, such retainers typically served a noble or royal of some kind, and retinue referred to a collection of retainers—that is, the noble's servants and companions. Nowadays, the word retinue is often used with a bit of exaggeration to refer to the assistants, guards, publicists, and other people who accompany a high-profile individual in public. You might also hear such a collection of folks called a suite or entourage, two other words that come from French.
Examples of retinue in a Sentence
Kyle Roderick, Forbes.com, 7 Sep. 2025
Nor is Vance the first politician to vacation with an irritating retinue in tow.
—Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 15 Aug. 2025
Wilson, outspent by a margin of nearly 4-1, recalls driving himself and, while lugging posters and signs to campaign events, watching Kennedy arrive with a retinue of staffers and occasionally a consultant.
—Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 6 July 2025
The sun and its retinue of planets, asteroids and comets have been around for more than 4.5 billion years.
—Phil Plait, Scientific American, 26 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for retinue
Cite this Entry
“Retinue.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/retinue. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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retinue
noun
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