retain

re·tain/ɹəˈteɪn/verb

retain is a verb meaning “Often followed by from: to hold back (someone or something); to check, to prevent, to restrain, to stop” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled R-E-T-A-I-N and has 2 syllables (re·tain), and it appears 14 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).

What does retain mean?

verb

1
Often followed by from: to hold back (someone or something); to check, to prevent, to restrain, to stop.
2
To hold back (a pupil) instead of allowing them to advance to the next class or year; to keep back.
3
Of a thing: to hold or keep (something) inside it; to contain.
water retained by a dam
4
To hold back (tissue or a substance, especially urine) in the body or a body organ.
5
To hold (something) secure; to prevent (something) from becoming detached or separated.
6
To keep (something) in control or possession; to continue having (something); to keep back.
7
To keep (something) in the mind; to recall, to remember.
8
To keep (something) in place or use, instead of removing or abolishing it; to preserve.

noun

1
obsoleteAn act of holding or keeping something; a possession, a retention.
2
obsoleteSynonym of retinue (“a group of attendants or servants, especially of someone considered important”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How do you pronounce retain?

UK /ɹɪˈteɪn/
US /ɹəˈteɪn/
US /ɹi-/

Retain has 2 syllables, split re·tain in writing.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-retain.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of retain

retains present, singular, he/she/it
retaining participle, present
retained participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

How common is retain?

Retain appears 14 times per million words in written English, the 5,496th most frequent word form in the list.

retain0.0010.010.11101001,00010,000

rarerper million words of written Englishmore common

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

Retain in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

Language	Words
German	sitzen bleiben (To hold back (a pupil) instead of allowing them…), festhalten (to hold (something) secure; to prevent…), behalten (to keep (something) in control or possession…)
French	retenir, conserver, maintenir (to keep (something) in control or possession…)
Portuguese	reter (to keep (something) in control or possession…)
Spanish	retener, detentar (illegitimately) (to keep (something) in control or possession…), retenerse (to control or restrain (oneself); to exercise…)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.