engagement - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From French engagement. Equivalent to engage +‎ -ment.

engagement (countable and uncountable, plural engagements)

  1. (countable) An appointment, especially to speak or perform.
    The lecturer has three speaking engagements this week.
    prior engagement
    a future engagement
  2. (countable, uncountable) Connection or attachment.
    Check the gears for full engagement before turning the handle.
  3. (uncountable, by extension, about human emotional state) The feeling of being compelled, drawn in, connected to what is happening, interested in what will happen next.[1]
    • 2012, James Price Dillard, Lijiang Shen, The SAGE Handbook of Persuasion: Developments in Theory and Practice:
      In a recent study with a movie recommendation site […] , higher message interactivity in the form of footprints of user actions, responsive suggestions in a search box, and live-chatting with an online agent led to greater perceived contingency and engagement with the site, which ultimately created more positive attitudes toward it and higher intention to recommend the site to others.
    • 2025 June 13, Kashmir Hill, “They Asked ChatGPT Questions. The Answers Sent Them Spiraling.”, in The New York Times‎[2], →ISSN:
      Mr. Yudkowsky said OpenAI might have primed ChatGPT to entertain the delusions of users by optimizing its chatbot for “engagement” — creating conversations that keep a user hooked.
  4. (countable, uncountable) The period of time when marriage is planned or promised.
    We are enjoying a long engagement, but haven't yet set a date.
  5. (countable, uncountable) In any situation of conflict, an actual instance of active hostilities.
    The engagement resulted in many casualties.
  6. (fencing, countable) The point at which the fencers are close enough to join blades, or to make an effective attack during an encounter.
    After engagement it quickly became clear which of the fencers was going to prevail.
  7. (Internet, countable) A performance metric representing an instance where a user interacts with some content after an impression.
    1. (uncountable) The quantitative response to a piece of content or a service; attention.
      • 2021 September 3, Sean O'Kane, “New study will show misinformation on Facebook gets way more engagement than news”, in The Verge‎[3]:
        A new peer-reviewed study from researchers at New York University and the Université Grenoble Alpes in France will show that misinformation got six times as much engagement on Facebook as real news, The Washington Post reports.
      • 2025 November 23, Kashmir Hill, Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, quoting Hannah Wong, “What OpenAI Did When ChatGPT Users Lost Touch With Reality”, in The New York Times‎[4], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC:
        “Healthy engagement” is how the company describes its aim. “We are building ChatGPT to help users thrive and reach their goals,” Hannah Wong, OpenAI’s spokeswoman, said.

feeling (about human emotional state) — see also captivation

period of time when marriage is planned or promised — see also betrothal

instance of active hostilities

(countable) performance metric representing an instance where a user interacts with some content after an impression

(uncountable) quantitative response to a piece of content; attention

Translations to be checked

  1. ^ Emery Schubert with Kim Vincs, Catherine J. Stevens (2013), “Identifying Regions of Good Agreement among Responders in Engagement with a Piece of Live Dance”, in Empirical Studies of the Arts‎[1], volume 31, number 1, →DOI, page 4

From French engagement.

engagement n (singular definite engagementet, plural indefinite engagementer)

  1. involvement, participation
  2. time-limited employment

From engager (“to commit”) +‎ -ment.

engagement m (plural engagements)

  1. commitment
  2. engagement

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

engagement m (plural engagements)

  1. (Jersey) engagement

Unadapted borrowing from French engagement.

engagement m (plural engagements)

  1. engagement
    Synonym: compromiso