different between retinue vs following

English

Etymology

From Middle English retenue, from Old French retenue, past participle of retenir (“retain”). Doublet of ritenuto.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /???t.?.nju?/
• (US) IPA^(key): /???t?n(j)u?/
• ,

Noun

retinue (plural retinues)

1. A group of servants or attendants, especially of someone considered important.

   the queen’s retinues

   • 1915, Edward Plunkett, Lord Dunsany, Fifty-One Tales:

     And not any longer as a king did Winter appear in those streets, as when the city was decked with gleaming white to greet him as a conqueror and he rode in with his glittering icicles and haughty retinue of prancing winds, but he sat there with a little wind at the corner of the street like some old blind beggar with his hungry dog.

   • 12 July 2012, Sam Adams, AV Club Ice Age: Continental Drift

     Preceded by a Simpsons short shot in 3-D—perhaps the only thing more superfluous than a fourth Ice Age movie—Ice Age: Continental Drift finds a retinue of vaguely contemporaneous animals coping with life in the post-Pangaea age.

2. A group of warriors or nobles accompanying a king or other leader; comitatus.
   • 1992, J. A. V. Haney and Eric Dahl, “On Igor’s Campaign” (translation of ????? ? ????? ???????):

     Then Igor looked up at the bright sun and saw all his warriors
     darkened from it by a shadow.
     And Igor said to his retinue:
     “Brothers and companions! It is better to be slain than taken captive.
     Mount, brothers, your swift horses that we may glimpse the Blue Don.”

3. (obsolete) A service relationship.

Related terms

Translations

Anagrams

• neurite, reunite, unitree, uterine

Middle English

Noun

retinue

1. Alternative form of retenue

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?f?l????/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?f?lo???/
• Hyphenation: fol?low?ing

Adjective

following (not comparable)

1. Coming next, either in sequence or in time.

   Synonyms: succeeding; see also Thesaurus:subsequent

   Antonyms: preceding; see also Thesaurus:former

   • 1835, Sir John Ross, Sir James Clark Ross, Narrative of a Second Voyage in Search of a North-west Passage …, Volume 1, pp.284-5

     Towards the following morning, the thermometer fell to 5°; and at daylight, there was not an atom of water to be seen in any direction.

2. About to be specified.

   Synonym: undermentioned

   Antonyms: abovementioned, aforementioned, aforesaid

3. (of a wind) Blowing in the direction of travel.

Usage notes

(Senses 1, 2) When it modifies a noun phrase, it is generally preceded by the definite article the, and the combination functions as a determiner rather than a simple adjective. You can put it before a cardinal like the following two remarks instead of the two following remarks.

Translations

Preposition

following

1. After, subsequent to.

   Following the meeting, we all had a chat.

Translations

Noun

following (plural followings)

1. A group of followers, attendants or admirers; an entourage.

   He had a loyal following.
2. Vocation; business; profession.
3. (with definite article, treated as singular or plural) A thing or things to be mentioned immediately after.

   The following is a recommendation letter from the president.

   The following are the three most important questions.

Translations

Verb

following

1. present participle of follow