Etymologically
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retention

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Pronunciation

  • /ɹɪˈtɛnʃən/[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English retencioun,[2][3] borrowed from Anglo-Norman retencioun and retention,[4][5] and also directly from Latin retentiō (“a keeping back, retaining”),[4][3][6] a noun of action from the past participle of retineō (“to hold back, retain”),[3][7][8] from re- (“back”) and teneō (“to hold”).[9][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The keeping within the body of a substance that is normally eliminated, such as urine: a1400, in a translation of Lanfranc's Science of Cirurgie.[4][3] Barnhart dates retencioun to 1392, in the sense of power or capacity to retain.[5]

Semantic evolution

From the medical use the word spread to the body's ability to keep nourishment (?a1425), to any object's capacity to hold something such as liquid (1598), and to the mind's keeping of what is learnt, memory (?a1425, though Etymonline dates the mental sense to the late 15th century).[4][3] Johnson (1755) defined it as the act of retaining, quoting Shakespeare: "they lack retention".[10] Keeping possession of something is recorded from 1540, and Scots law has a right to retain property until a debt is paid (1551).[4] Several early modern senses, such as detention in custody (1572 to 1790), restraint of behaviour (?1615 to 1802) and frugality (1655 to 1702), are obsolete.[4] A sum of money held back from a payment, a commercial sense, dates from 1839.[4][11]

Timeline

  • 1392 – power or capacity to retain.[5]
  • a1400 – retaining in the body what is normally eliminated.[4][3]
  • ?a1425 – retaining in the mind, memory.[4]
  • c1475 – holding something fast in place.[4]
  • 1540 – continued possession of something.[4]
  • 1572 – detention in custody (obsolete by 1790).[4]
  • 1598 – the capacity of a material to hold liquid.[4]
  • 1839 – a sum of money held back.[4]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The act of retaining something or the state of being retained; continued possession or use: the retention of skilled staff.
  2. The ability to hold or keep something, such as water.
  3. The ability to remember things; memory.
  4. (medicine) The abnormal holding in the body of urine or other matter normally excreted.
  5. (commerce) A sum of money held back from a contractor's payment for an agreed period as a safeguard against faults.

Word family

  • nonretention
  • overretention

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
  3. ^ a b c d e f g Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
  6. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
  7. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  8. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  9. ^ Skeat, Walter W. (1911), A Concise Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, new ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
  10. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins