ENTREATMENT
\ɛntɹˈiːtmənt], \ɛntɹˈiːtmənt], \ɛ_n_t_ɹ_ˈiː_t_m_ə_n_t]\
Sort: Oldest first
-
A word occurring only once in Shakespeare which has been variously rendered. Nares interprets it by entertainment, conversation; Hazlitt, by favor entreated; Schmidt, in his Shakespeare-Lexicon, by invitation, glossing the phrase "your entreatments" by "the invitations you receive;" Clark and Wright, in their Globe edition of Shakespeare, by interview. The sense that seems to suit the context best is conversation, interview, favor. The passage in which the word occurs is as follows, the speaker being Polonius, and the person addressed his daughter Ophelia.
By Daniel Lyons