entail - Dictionary definition and pronunciation - Yahoo! Education
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en·tail  audio  (n-tl, n-) KEY 

TRANSITIVE VERB:
en·tailed, en·tail·ing, en·tails
  1. To have, impose, or require as a necessary accompaniment or consequence: The investment entailed a high risk. The proposition X is a rose entails the proposition X is a flower because all roses are flowers.
  2. To limit the inheritance of (property) to a specified succession of heirs.
  3. To bestow or impose on a person or a specified succession of heirs.
NOUN:
    1. The act of entailing, especially property.
    2. The state of being entailed.
  2. An entailed estate.
  3. A predetermined order of succession, as to an estate or to an office.
  4. Something transmitted as if by unalterable inheritance.
ETYMOLOGY:
Middle English entaillen, to limit inheritance to specific heirs : en-, intensive pref. ; see en-1 + taille, tail ; see tail2

OTHER FORMS:
en·tailment(Noun)


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