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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.
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Examples of retinue in a Sentence
Jonathan Schlefer, Foreign Affairs, 15 Mar. 2021
He was taken to Manhattan by helicopter and met at the helipad by a massive retinue of heavily armed police led by New York City Mayor Eric Adams.
—Brady Knox, Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government, 19 Dec. 2024
With his entourage of ballers and video vixens, his retinue of security, his talent for curation, Puff was the ringmaster of relevancy, the pied piper of fun and the force at the very center of cultural power.
—Amy Dubois Barnett, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Oct. 2024
The list of people’s stressors included arguments with a family member, work deadlines, an overload of home tasks and a retinue of ordinary daily hassles.
—Francine Russo, Scientific American, 5 Apr. 2023
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Cite this Entry
“Retinue.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/retinue. Accessed 20 Jan. 2025.
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retinue
noun
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