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entail

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entail¹

  • /ɛnˈteɪl/ Canada, US, UK
  • /ɪnˈteɪl/ Canada, US, UK
  • /ənˈteɪl/ Canada, US, UK
  • /enˈtæɪl/ Australia
  • /ɪnˈtæɪl/ Australia
  • /ənˈtæɪl/ Australia
  • /enˈtæɪl/ New Zealand
  • /ənˈtæɪl/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -eɪl

Where it comes 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”).

verb entails · entailing · entailed · intail

  1. transitive To imply, require, or invoke. This activity will entail careful attention to detail.
  2. transitive 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. Mr. Bennet's property consisted almost entirely in an estate of two thousand a year, which, unfortunately for his daughters, was entailed, in default of heirs male, on a distant relation; and their mother's fortune, though ample for her situation in life, could but ill supply the deficiency of his.
  3. obsolete, transitive To appoint hereditary possessor. To entail him and his heirs unto the crown.

entail²

  • /ɛnˈteɪl/ Canada, US, UK
  • /ɪnˈteɪl/ Canada, US, UK
  • /ənˈteɪl/ Canada, US, UK
  • /enˈtæɪl/ Australia
  • /ɪnˈtæɪl/ Australia
  • /ənˈtæɪl/ Australia
  • /enˈtæɪl/ New Zealand
  • /ənˈtæɪl/ New Zealand

Rhymes with -eɪl

Where it comes from

From Middle English entaille (“carving”), from Old French entaille (“incision”), from the verb entailler. See above.

noun entails · intail

  1. That which is entailed. A power of breaking the ancient entails, and of alienating their estates.
  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. All land acquired by inheritance must follow the Khasi law of entail, by which property descends from the mother to the youngest daughter, and again from the latter to her youngest daughter.
  4. obsolete Delicately carved ornamental work; intaglio. A worke of rich entayle.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: imply, mean, implicate, cause, result, presuppose, implied, understand, suppose, assume, presume, consist, signify, necessitate, create, represent

Translations

Every language

verb imply or require

Españolconllevar, entrañar
Portuguêsimplicar, pressupor, requerer
Françaiscomporter, impliquer, requérir
Deutschbedingen, mit sich bringen, nach sich ziehen, verursachen, zur Folge haben, erfordern
Italianocomportare, implicare
Русскийтре́бовать trébovatʹ, влечь vlečʹ

verb settle or fix inalienably on a person or thing

Françaisconférer, accorder
Deutschals unveräußerliches Gut vererben

noun that which is entailed

Françaisentail

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Cite this
MLA

"entail." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/entail. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

entail. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/entail

Chicago

"entail." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/entail.

BibTeX
@misc{entail_2026,
  title = {entail},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/entail},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}