retain
Meanings
- Often followed by from: to hold back (someone or something); to check, to prevent, to restrain, to stop.
- To hold back (a pupil) instead of allowing them to advance to the next class or year; to keep back.
- Of a thing: to hold or keep (something) inside it; to contain.
- To hold back (tissue or a substance, especially urine) in the body or a body organ.
- To hold (something) secure; to prevent (something) from becoming detached or separated.
- To keep (something) in control or possession; to continue having (something); to keep back.
- To keep (something) in the mind; to recall, to remember.
- To keep (something) in place or use, instead of removing or abolishing it; to preserve.
- To engage or hire (someone), especially temporarily.
- To employ (someone, especially a lawyer) by paying a retainer (“fee one pays to reserve another person's time for services”); specifically, to engage (a barrister) by making an initial payment to secure their services if needed.
- To keep (someone) in one's pay or service; also, (chiefly historical) to maintain (someone) as a dependent or follower.
- To control or restrain (oneself); to exercise self-control over (oneself).
- An act of holding or keeping something; a possession, a retention.
- Synonym of retinue (“a group of attendants or servants, especially of someone considered important”).
Pronunciation
Word forms
Etymology
From Late Middle English reteinen, retein (“to continue to keep, retain; to continue to possess; to possess; to contain; to draw back, retire; to hold back, restrain; to keep in mind, remember; to take back, repossess; to appoint; to engage in one’s service, employ, hire”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman reteiner, retenir [and other forms], Middle French retenir, and Old French retenir (“to keep back, retain; to keep, maintain, preserve; to possess; to engage in one’s service, employ; to detain; to hold back, restrain; to remember”) (modern French retenir), from Vulgar Latin *retinīre, from Latin retinēre, the present active infinitive of retineō (“to keep or hold back, detain, retain; to hold in check, stop; to hold fast, maintain; to keep in mind, remember”) (compare Late Latin retineō (“to keep engaged in one’s service”)), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + teneō (“to grasp, hold; to hold fast, restrain; to possess; to keep in mind, remember”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ten- (“to extend, stretch”)). Etymology 1 sense 1.10 (“to declare (a sin) not forgiven”) is derived from John 20:23 in the Bible, in Late Latin quorum retinueritis, retenta sunt, and in Koine Greek ἄν τινων κρατῆτε, κεκράτηνται: see the 1526 quotation. Cognates * Catalan retenir * Italian retenere (obsolete), ritenere * Portuguese reter * Spanish retener