Entertaiment can include: watching movies, television shows, or series; listening to music, or playing musical instruments; engaging in sports or games; reading books or poetry; and experiencing visual arts. Often the themes of entertainment hit on things the brain was evolved to react deeply to. For example, backstabbing and murder in the social world are examples of entertainment that tap into our basic needs.
Where does the word entertain come from? It comes from the medieval Latin intertenere, with the prefix inter meaning “inside,” and the suffix tenere, which derives from an Indo-European root that means to stretch or enlarge.