entrain

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -eɪn

Etymology 1

First attested in c. 1560. From French entraîner.

Verb

entrain (third-person singular simple present entrains, present participle entraining, simple past and past participle entrained)

1. To draw along as a current does.

   water entrained by steam

2. (chemistry) To suspend small particles in the current of a fluid.
   • 1963, W. D. Jamrack, Rare metal extraction by chemical engineering techniques:

     In certain cases, it is possible to entrain enough of the solids continually in the effluent gas stream and then to disentrain them again away from the bed.

3. (mathematics) To set up or propagate a signal, such as an oscillation.
4. (figuratively) To encarriage, to conjoin, to link; as in a series of entities, elements, objects or processes.
5. (neurobiology) To become trained or conditioned in a pattern of brain behavior.
   • 2007, James R. Evans, Handbook of Neurofeedback: Dynamics and Clinical Applications, →ISBN:

     There are several neurofeedback-related approaches that make use of auditory and/or visual stimulation (AVS) to entrain or disentrain brain electrical activity.

   • 2013, Simone Bassis, Anna Esposito, & Francesco Carlo Morabito, Recent Advances of Neural Network Models and Applications, →ISBN:

     Hence, interestingly, a speaker (VR) might disentrain in no-frequency but entrain in the frequency of a particular discourse function; we also have a speaker with the opposite pattern (DF).

Etymology 2

[circa 1860] en- +‎ train.

Verb

entrain (third-person singular simple present entrains, present participle entraining, simple past and past participle entrained)

1. (poetic, intransitive) To get into or board a railway train.
   • 1959 April, “Talking of Trains: The S.R. tells the public”, in Trains Illustrated, page 174:

     [...] and the Southern Region has recently given another lead by adopting an approach practised for some time by certain U.S. commuter railroads - the pamphlet or brochure left on every seat at a rush-hour before passengers entrain.

2. (transitive) To put aboard a railway train.

   to entrain a regiment

Antonyms

• detrain

Anagrams

• Tiernan, tannier, trannie

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French

Etymology

From entraîner.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɑ̃.tʁɛ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

Noun

entrain m (uncountable)

1. spirit, liveliness, vivacity, drive

Further reading

• “entrain”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• reniant