retirement English · revision 4739

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1596|origins=fr retirer}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /rɪˈtaɪə.mənt/, US /rɪˈtaɪ.ɚ.mənt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|frm|retirement]] (1570s),^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) from retirer “to retire”, with the suffix -ment;^(MWU 2024)^(Etymonline) it is also explained as formed from [[retire]] and [[-ment]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The act of falling back or retreating: 1596 in the OED, the 1590s in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) MWU dates its first known use to 1536.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The act of withdrawing into seclusion is from 1599,^(OED 1989) and the state of being withdrawn from society, privacy, from 1603.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) A secluded place, a retreat, is from 1652–1662.^(OED 1989) Withdrawal from one's occupation or business, the main modern sense, is from 1648, the 1640s in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline) The Century Dictionary distinguished it from solitude and seclusion: retirement is comparative solitude produced by withdrawing from contact one has had with others.^(Etymonline) Compounds such as ''retirement age'' and ''retirement home'' are modern.^(Roach et al. 2011)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1536 – first known use.^(MWU 2024)

+ * 1596 – a retreat, falling back.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1599 – withdrawal into seclusion.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1603 – the state of seclusion.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1648 – withdrawal from work or office.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The act of leaving one's job or career, usually because of age.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # The period of a person's life after they have [[retire]]d.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # ''(literary)'' Withdrawal into privacy or [[seclusion]], or a secluded place.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[semiretirement]]

+ * [[preretirement]]

+ * [[postretirement]]

+ * [[nonretirement]]

+ * [[retirement community]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[retire]]

+ * [[retiree]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ In the 19th-century view of the Century Dictionary, seclusion is stronger than retirement, implying being shut off from others.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}