Engage

Part of speech: verb

Pronunciation: /ɪnˈɡeɪd͡ʒ/

Definitions

1. To participate in an activity or enter into a commitment with someone or something
2. To take part in a specific activity or commitment while also capturing someone's interest and fostering interaction with a group or individual
3. To become actively involved in an event or action ; to capture and maintain someone's interest ; to form a formal agreement or hire someone for a role

Etymology: The original sense of "engage" was financial and legal: to pledge something as security, to put a pledge in someone's hands. Old French "engagier" built on "gage," meaning a pledge or guarantee, and the prefix "en-" meant "in" or "into," so to engage was to put something up as a surety. The "gage" element came from a Frankish word for pledge, which is related to the English "wed" and to German "wetten," meaning to bet. A wager and a wedding, in other words, share a root: both are binding promises. From that sense of binding oneself, the word spread into a range of commitments. Medieval English used it for pledging oneself to a cause, to battle, or to a marriage contract. Military writers then used it for locking two armies in combat, and the sense of hooking someone's attention followed, so that an engaging speaker is one who holds you the way a pledge once held a debt.

Synonyms: involve, participate, occupy, entangle, connect

Antonyms: disengage, detach, withdraw, exclude