noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Received-Pronunciation:/ˈɹɛ.tɪ.njuː/
US:/ˈɹɛ.tɪ.n(j)uː/
obsolete:/ɹɪˈtɪnjuː/
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
CMU ARPABET:R EH1 T AH0 N UW2
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
noun
Meaning 1
A group of attendants or servants, especially of someone considered important.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
the queen’s retinues
12 July 2012, Sam Adams, AV Club Ice Age: Continental Drift Preceded by a Simpsons short shot in 3-D—perhaps the only thing more superfluous than a fourth Ice Age movie—Ice Age: Continental Drift finds a retinue of vaguely contemporaneous animals coping with life in the post-Pangaea age.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: entourage, retain, cortege
Antonyms: none provided
2
noun
Meaning 2
A group of warriors or nobles accompanying a king or other leader; comitatus.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
noun
Meaning 3
A service relationship.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
noun
Meaning 4
the group following and attending to some important person
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: cortege, suite, entourage
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: gathering, assemblage
Narrower terms: court, royal court
History
Etymology
From Middle English retenue, from Old French retenue, past participle of retenir (“retain”). Doublet of ritenuto.
Across languages
Translations
63 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Armenian:
շքախումբ
(škʻaxumb)
— group of servants
Bulgarian:
свита
(svita)
— group of servants
Catalan:
seguici
— group of servants
Chinese Mandarin:
随从
— group of servants
Chinese Mandarin:
随员
(suíyuán)
— group of servants
Dutch:
gevolg
— group of servants
Dutch:
hofhouding
— group of servants
Dutch:
hofstoet
— group of servants
Esperanto:
akompanantaro
— group of servants
Finnish:
seurue
— group of servants
French:
suite
— group of servants
Ancient Greek:
παραδρομή
(paradromḗ)
— group of servants
Irish:
cóisir
— group of servants
Italian:
seguito
— group of servants
Latin:
comitātus
— group of servants
Māori:
apataki
— group of servants
Māori:
hikuroa
— group of servants
Māori:
hikuhiku
— group of servants
Marathi:
लवाजमा
(lavājmā)
— group of servants
Middle English:
retenue
— group of servants
Middle English:
hird
— group of servants
Middle English:
meyne
— group of servants
Polish:
świta
— group of servants
Polish:
asysta
— group of servants
Polish:
asystencja
— group of servants
Portuguese:
séquito
— group of servants
Russian:
сви́та
(svíta)
— group of servants
Sanskrit:
पटल
(paṭala)
— group of servants
Serbo-Croatian:
svita
— group of servants
Spanish:
servidumbre
— group of servants
Swedish:
följe
— group of servants
Swedish:
uppvaktning
— group of servants
Telugu:
పరివారము
(parivāramu)
— group of servants
Ukrainian:
по́чет
(póčet)
— group of servants
Ukrainian:
сви́та
(svýta)
— group of servants
Welsh:
nifer
— group of servants
Middle Welsh:
niuer
— group of servants
Middle Welsh:
yniuer
— group of servants
Bulgarian:
кортеж
(kortež)
— comitatus
Catalan:
seguici
— comitatus
Finnish:
seurue
— comitatus
French:
retenue
— comitatus
Galician:
séquito
— comitatus
Galician:
acompañamento
— comitatus
German:
Gefolge
— comitatus
Latin:
comitātus
— comitatus
Latin:
cohors
— comitatus
Māori:
apataki
— comitatus
Māori:
hikuroa
— comitatus
Māori:
hikuhiku
— comitatus
Middle English:
retenue
— comitatus
Middle English:
douthe
— comitatus
Middle English:
hird
— comitatus
Old Church Slavonic:
дроужина
(družina)
— comitatus
