entretenir
French, verb/ɑ̃.tʁə.t(ə).niʁ/
entretenir is spelled E-N-T-R-E-T-E-N-I-R (10 letters) and appears 13 times per million words in written French, the 5,331st most frequent French word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Entretenir is a French verb meaning “to maintain, to look after” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) defines it as “Tenir en bon état”.
What does entretenir mean in English?
verb
- 1
to maintain, to look after
Le Canada entretient une relation de premier plan avec les États-Unis, pays avec lequel il partage la plus longue frontière non défendue du monde.
- 2
to support (e.g. a family)
- 3
to fuel, to keep something going
- 4
to have a discussion (with someone)
- 5
to keep fit
Source: English Wiktionary, French section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How French dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Tenir en bon état. 2. Maintenir en un certain état une chose ou une personne. 3. Faire subsister en fournissant les choses nécessaires. 4. Pourvoir aux dépenses d’une personne avec laquelle on est en commerce de galanterie.
The definition in the French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), in French.
Source: French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of entretenir
- avoir + past participle infinitive multiword-construction
- entretenant gerund participle present
- ayant + past participle gerund multiword-construction participle
- entretenu participle past
- entretiens first-person indicative present
- entretient indicative present singular
- entretenons first-person indicative plural
- entretenez indicative plural present
- entretiennent indicative plural present
- entretenais first-person imperfect indicative
- entretenait imperfect indicative singular
- entretenions first-person imperfect indicative
- entreteniez imperfect indicative plural
- entretenaient imperfect indicative plural
- entretins first-person historic indicative
- entretint historic indicative past
- entretînmes first-person historic indicative
- entretîntes historic indicative past
Source: English Wiktionary and French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce entretenir?
- /ɑ̃.tʁə.t(ə).niʁ/
- \ɑ̃.tʁət.niʁ\
- \ɑ̃.tʁə.tə.niʁ\
Sources: English Wiktionary, French Wiktionary (Wiktionnaire) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to entretenir
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is entretenir in French?
entretenir appears 13 times per million words in written French.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).