entail
/ɛnˈteɪl/verb, noun
entail is spelled E-N-T-A-I-L: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.6 times per million words in written English, the 22,073rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, entail means “To imply, require, or invoke” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in entail?
| Letters | 6: E-N-T-A-I-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.6 times per million words; the 22,073rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is entail?
Entail appears 1.6 times per million words in written English, the 22,073rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce entail?
- US /ɛnˈteɪl/
- US /ɪnˈteɪl/
- US /ənˈteɪl/
Entail has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-entail.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with entail?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as entail from its last stressed vowel (/eɪl/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of entail
- entails present, singular, he/she/it, plural
- entailing participle, present
- entailed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does entail mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To imply, require, or invoke.
This activity will entail careful attention to detail.
- 2
To settle or fix inalienably on a person or thing, or on a person and his descendants or a certain line of descendants; -- said especially of an estate; to bestow as a heritage.
- 3
obsoleteTo appoint hereditary possessor.
noun
- 1
That which is entailed.
- 2
An estate in fee entailed, or limited in descent to a particular class of issue.
- 3
The rule by which the descent is fixed.
- 4
obsoleteDelicately carved ornamental work; intaglio.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Entail in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | comporter, impliquer, requérir , conférer, accorder , entail |
| German | bedingen, mit sich bringen, nach sich ziehen, verursachen, zur Folge haben, erfordern |
| Portuguese | implicar, pressupor, requerer |
| Spanish | conllevar, entrañar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does entail come from?
From Middle English entaillen, from Old French entaillier, entailler (“to notch”, literally “to cut in”); from prefix en- + tailler (“to cut”), from Late Latin taliare, from Latin talea. Compare late Latin feudum talliatum (“a fee entailed, i.e., curtailed or limited”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).