retention

From Middle English retencioun, borrowed from Latin retentiō, retentiōnis, from retentus, the perfect passive participle of retineō (“retain”) (from re- (“back, again”) + teneō (“hold, keep”)).

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈtɛnʃən/

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retention (countable and uncountable, plural retentions)

1. The act of retaining or something retained.
   • c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene iv], page 95:

     No woman's heart / So big, to hold so much; they lack retention.

2. The act or power of remembering things.
3. A memory; what is retained in the mind.
4. (medicine) The involuntary withholding of urine and faeces.
5. (medicine) The length of time a patient remains in treatment.
6. (obsolete) That which contains something, as a tablet; a means of preserving impressions.
   • 1609, William Shakespeare, “Sonnet 122”, in Shake-speares Sonnets. […], London: By G[eorge] Eld for T[homas] T[horpe] and are to be sold by William Aspley, →OCLC:

     Thy gift, thy tables, are within my brain
     Full character’d with lasting memory,
     […]
     That poor retention could not so much hold,
     Nor need I tallies thy dear love to score;

7. (obsolete) The act of withholding; restraint; reserve.
   • c. 1601–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “Twelfe Night, or What You Will”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene i], page 79:

     His life I gave him, and did thereto add / My love without retention or restraint,

8. (obsolete) A place of custody or confinement.
9. (law) The right to withhold a debt, or of retaining property until a debt due to the person claiming the right is duly paid; a lien.
   • 1754, John Erskine of Carnock, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

     The right of retention, which bears a near resemblance to compensation, is chiefly competent where the mutual debts, not being liquid, cannot be the ground of compensation

10. (insurance) The portion of a potential damage that must be paid for by the holder of an insurance policy.

• enter into, intertone, tontineer