What does retain mean?
Retain means to keep or continue to have something, especially when doing so requires deliberate choice. A person may retain control, retain possession of property, or retain information after it has been learned. In an employment context, retaining someone means continuing to employ them, while retaining an employee’s services can also mean paying an adviser or professional to remain available. The word frequently conveys continuity, preservation, and the refusal to surrender something important. It is more formal than the everyday verb “keep” and is common in legal, educational, business, and institutional contexts. Although retain can imply that something remains in the same position or condition, its central meaning is that the subject continues to hold or preserve something rather than losing, releasing, or giving it up.
verbTo keep, continue to have, or preserve something. It can also mean to continue employing someone or to keep something in its existing position or state.
- To keep or continue to have something, especially something of value or importance.
- To continue employing or paying someone.
- To keep something in its existing position, state, or condition.
- To preserve or remember information.
- To keep possession of property or a right rather than transfer or surrender it.
"The company plans to retain most of its experienced staff during the restructuring."
"Students often retain useful information when a course is taught through practical exercises."
"The museum has decided to retain the painting in its collection rather than sell it."
Retain comes from Latin roots meaning “hold back,” giving the word its enduring sense of keeping something in your hands.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of retain
Retain comes from Latin retinere, formed from the prefix re-, meaning “back” or “again,” and tenere, meaning “to hold.” In Latin, the verb referred to keeping or holding back. English adopted the word in the late Middle English period for the sense of keeping, preserving, or holding in place, and its modern uses developed from that central idea of continued possession.
Related word forms
How retain is actually used
Retain is formal and widely used in British and American English. It often suggests deliberately keeping or preserving something that might otherwise be lost, given up, or replaced.
Easily confused with retain
To retain something is to keep or preserve it, whereas to refrain from an action is to abstain from doing it.