Verb

(captivat)

To attract and hold interest and attention of; charm.

* Washington Irving

small landscapes of captivating loveliness

*, chapter=3

, title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=One saint's day in mid-term a certain newly appointed suffragan-bishop came to the school chapel, and there preached on “The Inner Life.”  He at once secured attention by his informal method, and when presently the coughing of Jarvis […] interrupted the sermon, he altogether captivated his audience with a remark about cough lozenges being cheap and easily procurable.}}

(obsolete) To take prisoner; to capture; to subdue.

* Shakespeare

Their woes whom fortune captivates .

* Glanvill

'Tis a greater credit to know the ways of captivating Nature, and making her subserve our purposes, than to have learned all the intrigues of policy.

Verb

(en verb)

To amuse (someone); to engage the attention of agreeably.

to entertain friends with lively conversation

The motivational speaker not only instructed but also entertained the audience.

(transitive, and, intransitive) To have someone over at one's home for a party or visit.

They enjoy entertaining a lot.

* Bible, Heb. xiii. 2

Be not forgetful to entertain strangers

To receive and take into consideration; to have a thought in mind.

The committee would like to entertain the idea of reducing the budget figures.

to entertain a proposal

* De Quincey

I am not here going to entertain so large a theme as the philosophy of Locke.

* Hawthorne

A rumour gained ground, — and, however absurd, was entertained by some very sensible people.

(obsolete) To take or keep in one's service; to maintain; to support; to harbour; to keep.

* Shakespeare

You, sir, I entertain for one of my hundred.

(obsolete) To meet or encounter, as an enemy.

(Shakespeare)

(obsolete) To lead on; to bring along; to introduce.

* Jeremy Taylor

to baptize all nations, and entertain them into the services and institutions of the holy Jesus