retinue

[ ret-n-oo, -yoo ]
See synonyms for retinue on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a body of retainers in attendance upon an important personage; suite.

Origin of retinue

1
1325–75; Middle English retinue<Middle French, noun use of feminine past participle of retenir to retain

Other words from retinue

  • ret·i·nued, adjective
  • un·ret·i·nued, adjective

Words Nearby retinue

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use retinue in a sentence

  • First charged with “piracy,” each member of the retinue now faces seven years in jail if found guilty of “hooliganism.”

    The Return of Russian Hard Power? | Michael Weiss | November 23, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • And then his retinue of friends and spiritual advisors arrived, and he floated away on a cloud of "insiderdom" and "privilege."

  • There is a usually a retinue of “reliable” Mohalells in each pious community.

    Is Khamenei the New Putin? | Abbas Milani | September 26, 2011 | THE DAILY BEAST
  • When the Begum and the moulvie departed for Lucknow they were accompanied by nearly the whole of their retinue.

    The Red Year | Louis Tracy
  • Well, her father established Peggy in a big house in St. James's—huge retinue of servants and so forth.

    A Butterfly on the Wheel | Cyril Arthur Edward Ranger Gull
  • Gazing toward the Distance, the Wazir saw the Princess and her retinue nearing their destination.

  • The past has come down to us cloaked and shrouded, and attended by its decorous retinue of mutes and bearers.

  • His guardsmen trotted alongside while the rest of his retinue mounted and followed as best they could.

    The Envoy, Her | Horace Brown Fyfe

British Dictionary definitions for retinue

retinue

/ (ˈrɛtɪˌnjuː) /


noun
  1. a body of aides and retainers attending an important person, royalty, etc

Origin of retinue

1
C14: from Old French retenue, from retenir to retain

Derived forms of retinue

  • retinued, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012