What does retaining mean?
Retaining means keeping something rather than releasing, discarding, or losing it. The word can refer to continued possession, as when a business retains an employee or an owner retains ownership of property. It can also describe the action of holding something in place, as with a retaining wall, or preserving something, such as information, a quality, or a legal right. In professional contexts, “retain” often means employing someone for ongoing advice: a client may retain a lawyer, while an organisation may retain a consultant. The word has a formal, purposeful tone and commonly implies that the decision to keep something is deliberate. Although “retain” is its standard base form, “retaining” is the form most often used in compound terms such as “retaining wall” and in descriptions of ongoing possession, employment, or control.
To keep or continue to have something; to keep it in place; to preserve or maintain it; or to employ someone for an ongoing role.
"The committee is retaining the original documents while it conducts its review."
Common in legal, business, administrative, and technical contexts. When used with a person, it commonly means employing that person on a continuing basis.
Having the function or quality of keeping something in place or otherwise preserving it.
"A retaining wall prevents soil from sliding onto the road below."
Usually occurs before a noun in established technical compounds, especially “retaining wall.”
Retaining means keeping in the broadest sense: from holding on to property to preserving a memory or keeping an adviser in your service.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does retaining come from?
The word comes through Middle English from Old French retenir, meaning “to hold back.” Its deeper source is the Latin verb retinere, formed from the prefix re-, meaning “back” or “again,” and tenere, meaning “to hold.” Related English words include retention, retainer, and retinue, while other languages have cognates based on the same Latin root.
Related word forms
How retaining is actually used
The word is formal but widely used in legal, business, and technical contexts. It often conveys deliberate continuation or preservation, especially of possessions, employment, information, or structural support.