v.
    - continue to have; keep possession of. ▸not abolish, discard, or alter. ▸keep in one's memory. 
- absorb and continue to hold (a substance).
- keep in place; hold fixed.
- keep engaged in one's service. ▸secure the services of (a barrister) with a preliminary payment. 
Derivative
  
    - retainability n.
- retainable adj.
- retaining adj.
- retainment n.
 
  Etymology
  ME: via Anglo-Norman Fr. from OFr. retenir, from L. retinere, from re- ‘back’ + tenere ‘hold’.