retenir
\ʁət.niʁ\
The verdict
“retenir” is a regularly-used French word, ranked #3,565 in French word frequency and used as a verb.
- #3,565
- frequency rank, French
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 12
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Garder par-devers soi ce qui est à un autre.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | retenir |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | \ʁət.niʁ\ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #3,565 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 12 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “retenir” sits in French frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The French entry for retenir is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as \ʁət.niʁ\. Corpus data places it at rank #3,565 in overall French word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 18 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for retenir, with forms such as "ertenir", "reetnir", and "reteinr". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "retenu", "revenir", "retenue", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct French form is retenir, spelled R-E-T-E-N-I-R.
Definition
- 1Garder par-devers soi ce qui est à un autre.
- 2Garder toujours, conserver ce que l’on a, ne point s’en défaire, ne point s’en dessaisir.
- 3Se dit, dans ce sens, en parlant des habitudes, des qualités bonnes ou mauvaises que l’on n’a point perdues.
- 4Se souvenir, garder en mémoire.
- 5Réserver.
- 6Réserver un chiffre pour le joindre aux chiffres de la colonne suivante.
- 7Prélever, déduire d’une somme.
- 8S’assurer par précaution une personne, une chose.
- 9Arrêter, maintenir, faire demeurer.
- 10Saisir, tenir, pour empêcher un accident, une chute, ou pour s’opposer à une mauvaise action.
- 11Arrêter, contenir, ne pas laisser aller.
- 12Pour des chevaux de trait qui empêchent la voiture d’aller trop vite à une descente.
- 13Réprimer ; modérer ; empêcher de s’emporter.
- 14Mettre, imprimer, garder quelque chose dans sa mémoire.
- 15En parlant de la génération des animaux et signifie concevoir.
- 16S’arrêter avec effort.
- 17Ne pas satisfaire un besoin naturel
- 18Pour un cheval, qui ne veut pas se porter librement en avant.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ertenir,reetnir,reteinr,retenirr,retennir,retenri,retneir,rettenir,rretenir,rteenir
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of retenir - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "retenir"?
What does "retenir" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "retenir"?
How do you pronounce "retenir"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “retenir”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct French spelling is R-E-T-E-N-I-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as \ʁət.niʁ\ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “retenu” - see the side-by-side comparison. retenir vs retenu
- Browse more French words and confusable pairs in the same reference. French words
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.