Make Your Point > Archived Issues > RETINUE

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connect today's word to others: A retinue is a group of followers, or a group of people who serve someone. The word retinue comes from an Old French word that means "something retained."  Recall that to retain people is to keep them around, and to retain things is to keep them with you or keep them in your memory. So, could you explain what we mean by the word retentive? Getting back to retinue, let's add it to a list that also includes bevy, gaggle, legion, and battalion. Why? (What do those five words have in common?) (To reveal any word with blanks, give it a click.) make your point with... "RETINUE" A retinue is a group of people who stay near someone and serve that person.  More loosely, a retinue is any group of people or things that seems to surround and/or serve someone or something. Pronunciation: RET in new Part of speech: Countable noun. (Countable nouns, like "bottle," "piece," and "decision," are words for things that can be broken into exact units. You talk about "a bottle," "three pieces," and "many decisions." Likewise, talk about one retinue or multiple retinues.) Other forms: Besides the plural, "retinues," no other forms are commonly used today. How to use it: This word has a formal tone; it calls to mind kings, queens, and other authority figures. Talk about someone's retinue: "the president's retinue," "the pop singer's retinue." Or, talk about a retinue of some particular kind of person: a retinue of fans, a retinue of caretakers, a retinue of advisors, a retinue of champions, a retinue of adoring servants, a retinue of backup dancers. To use this word more loosely, refer to any group of things as a retinue if it seems to surround one main thing, as if in service to it: a retinue of shadows, a retinue of problems, a retinue of tears or sighs or sorrows, a retinue of planets or galaxies. examples: Downton Abbey tells the story of the aristocratic Crawleys and their retinue of servants. "When Luisa made her entrance, wearing an enormous crinolined dress, she was accompanied by a retinue of flag-bearers, trumpeters and falconers, while a floating band of musicians serenaded her from the lagoon."    —The Guardian, 9 May 2017 study it now: Look away from the screen to define "retinue" without saying "entourage" or "attendants." try it out: Fill in the blanks: "It'd be nice if _____ (isn't, aren't, wasn't, or weren't) (accompanied by, swarming with, overrun by, or cluttered with) a retinue of _____." Example: "It'd be nice if Sunday evenings weren't accompanied by a retinue of worries about Monday." before you review: Spend at least 20 seconds occupying your mind with the game below. Then try the review questions. Don’t go straight to the review now—let your working memory empty out first. Apt Adjective Anagrams!  I'll invent a person's name and a brief description of that person, and you unscramble the letters in the name to form an adjective that aptly describes the person or the person's situation. For example, if I say "Naomi Cirous is still holding a grudge," then you rearrange the letters in "Naomi Cirous" to form the adjective "acrimonious," meaning "sharp, bitter, and mean"--an appropriate adjective for someone holding a grudge. From the previous issue: Karen Toucans is always grumpy. Answer: She's cantankerous. Try this today: Amie Talcum earns all A's and has never gotten a detention. review today's word: 1. A near opposite of RETINUE is A. READERS. B. CREATORS. C. OPPONENTS. 2. When his retinue _____, we _____. A. grew popular .. saw sales quadruple B. thronged the hallways .. couldn't push our way through C. occupied the driver's seat .. had to be the ones navigating Answers are below. a final word: Make Your Point is crafted with love and brought to you each weekday morning by Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. From Liesl's blog:    36 ways to study words.    Why we forget words, & how to remember them.    How to use sophisticated words without being awkward. To be a sponsor and include your ad in an issue, please contact me at Liesl@HiloTutor.com. Disclaimer: When I write definitions, I use plain language and stick to the words' common, useful applications. If you're interested in authoritative and multiple definitions of words, I encourage you to check a dictionary. Also, because I'm American, I stick to American English when I share words' meanings, usage, and pronunciations; these elements sometimes vary across world Englishes. Answers to review questions: 1. C 2. B