reține

Forms

reține (third-person singular present reține, past participle reținut, third-person subjunctive rețină); 3rd conjugation^[1] The older infinitive was reținea, of the 2nd conjugation like ținea: „o făcea doritoare de a reținea pre Telemah” “made her wish to keep Telemachus back” (Petru Maior).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French retenir (“to hold back, retain”), fitted to the conjugation of the native ține “to hold”.^[2][4][1] DEX describes it as formed from Romanian re- + ține after the French verb, and Marcu likewise as made after the French verb.^[5][6] Tiktin names Italian ritenere as a model besides French, Wiktionary adds Latin retineō, and Graur lists the word among the learned descendants of the Latin verb.^[3][1][7]

The French verb was formed from re- and tenir on the model of the Latin verb, itself from re- (“back”) and teneō (“to hold”).^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from Petru Maior in 1818, with the senses “to hold back” and “to keep”.^[3] In that text the infinitive is still reținea: „o făcea doritoare de a reținea pre Telemah”.^[2] Asachi used the reflexive with the same infinitive, a se reținea.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, “to hold back, stop”, of people and of progress, is recorded from the first half of the 19th century; the reflexive “to restrain oneself” and the figurative “to hold back tears or anger” followed.^[2][5] Later senses came from the modern written language: “to detain” in law, “to withhold part of a payment”, “to reserve a seat or ticket” and “to remember”.^[2][5] Șăineanu's dictionary already listed keeping what is another's, deducting a percentage, booking a seat and stopping someone from leaving.^[10] The infinitive moved to the 3rd conjugation, reține, in the modern language.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1818 – reținea “to keep back” in Petru Maior, the first record.^[3][2]
• 1862 – Pontbriant's dictionary glosses it with French retenir, contenir, arrêter.^[11]
• 1929 – Șăineanu lists seven senses, from “withhold” to “book a seat”.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To hold back, stop, prevent; to detain someone for a time;^[5][4] (reflexive, figurative) to restrain oneself: Abia s-a reținut să nu râdă.^[5][4]
2. (transitive) To withhold part of the money or rights due to someone.^[5]
3. (transitive) To reserve a ticket or a seat.^[5]
4. (transitive) To keep for oneself, not give back.^[5]
5. (transitive) To remember, keep in mind: N-am reținut numele lui.^[5][4]

Word family

• reținere

Related words

• ține
• conține
• deține
• French retenir

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. reține
3. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. reține
4. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 701
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 950
6. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. reține
7. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 547
11. ^ Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 634