verb
entail
ehn-TAYL
verb
1
To involve or require something as a necessary consequence.
"Running a marathon entails months of serious training."
"The new job entails a lot of travel."
noun
1
(law) An estate whose inheritance is restricted to a specific line of heirs.
"Under the old entail, the estate could only pass to a male heir."
How to Use Entail
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishTo bring something along with it as a necessary part or consequence.
Common pairings
entails a risk
the job entails
what does it entail
Word Forms
entailed past tense, entails plural, entails singular
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Etymology
From Old French entailler, "to cut into," from en- + tailler ("to cut"). The legal sense comes from the idea of an inheritance being "cut" or fixed to a set line of heirs.