retain
Forms
- present (v1)
- retain
- past (v2)
- retained
- past participle (v3)
- retained
- present participle
- retaining
- 3rd person singular
- retains
Definitions
1.Often followed by from: to hold back (someone or something); to check, to prevent, to restrain, to stop.
2.Of a thing: to hold or keep (something) inside it; to contain.
3.To hold (something) secure; to prevent (something) from becoming detached or separated.
4.To keep (something) in control or possession; to continue having (something); to keep back.
- I still retain an unbounded admiration for G[eorge] J[ackson] Churchward and all his works, so wisely carried on by his successors.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #3000
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Rare
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
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”)).