Retention
[ʁetɛnˈt͡si̯oːn]
The verdict
“Retention” is uncommon German (frequency #90,809 among 42,116 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #90,809
- frequency rank, German
- 42,116
- “R” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Zurückhaltung, ( Zurückbehaltung)
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Retention |
| Language | German |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | [ʁetɛnˈt͡si̯oːn] |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #90,809 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Retention” sits in German frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Retention is uncommon German at frequency #90,809 among 42,116 “R” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed [ʁetɛnˈt͡si̯oːn]. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 6 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for Retention, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct German form is Retention, spelled R-E-T-E-N-T-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1Zurückhaltung, ( Zurückbehaltung)
- 2Zurückhaltung von auszuscheidenden Stoffen im Körper, mangelnde Ausscheidung (oft von Urin)
- 3Ruhigstellung (zum Beispiel mittels Gipsverbandes) bei einer Fraktur
- 4Fehlerhafte oder mangelhafte Organentwicklung
- 5Vermögen sich an etwas zu erinnern
- 6Rückhalt von Regenwasser, um Hochwasserspitzen zu minimieren
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “Retention”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct German spelling is R-E-T-E-N-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ʁetɛnˈt͡si̯oːn] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more German words and confusable pairs in the same reference. German words
Other uncommon German words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.