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Retinue comes via Middle English from the Anglo-French verb retenir, meaning "to retain or keep in one's pay or service." Another retenir descendant is retainer, which has among its meanings "one who serves a person of high position or rank." In the 14th century, such retainers typically served a noble or royal of some kind, and retinue referred to a collection of retainers—that is, the noble's servants and companions. Nowadays, the word retinue is often used with a bit of exaggeration to refer to the assistants, guards, publicists, and other people who accompany a high-profile individual in public. You might also hear such a collection of folks called a suite or entourage, two other words that come from French.
Examples of retinue in a Sentence
Kyle Roderick, Forbes.com, 7 Sep. 2025
Nor is Vance the first politician to vacation with an irritating retinue in tow.
—Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 15 Aug. 2025
Jesse Jackson swept in with his retinue of bodyguards and embraced Dinkins, Lynch, and Harlem representative Charlie Rangel in a group hug, as the furniture inside the suite was hastily rearranged to make room for the TV cameras and spotlights.
—Jonathan Mahler, Curbed, 1 Aug. 2025
Carter and his retinue surveyed the husks of vacant tenements and eight-foot heaps of bulldozed bricks.
—Dan Piepenbring, Harpers Magazine, 16 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for retinue
Cite this Entry
“Retinue.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/retinue. Accessed 17 Sep. 2025.
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retinue
noun
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