English → Latin
“retain” in Latin
servōto maintain, keep; to protect, save, keep, guard, safeguard, watch over; to give heed to, pay attention to; watch, obsercōnservōto conserve, to preserve, to save, to guard, to protect; to maintain (i.e., uphold)alōto feed, to nourish, to nurture; to cultivate, to raise, to rear, etc. (as a child, an animal, etc.); to cause (a thing)retineōto keep or hold back, detain, restrain, retain, confine, contain; delay; to hold in check, repress, check, stop, stay; taccipiōto receive, accept, take; to receive, accept, or take in something so as to alter one’s mental or physical state; to hea
The English word retain itself goes back to Latin teneō, through *retino.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
retain
To keep, servare: conservare (to keep, preserve, not lose; opposed to rejicere): alicujus rei detrimentum facere nullum, nullam facere in aliqua re jacturam (not suffer or sustain a loss; e.g., in one’s credit or authority, consequently to retain it): to retain anybody, aliquem tenere or retinere (not allow him to go): hospitio aliquem excipere or accipere (to take or keep him under one’s roof, etc): cenae adhibere (at a meal): to retain a custom [Vid :, CUSTOM]: to retain the magistracy, manere in magistratu (opposed to magistratu abire). To retain its color, *colorem servare or retinere.
To keep in pay (e.g., soldiers, etc.), alere (milites, exercitum): mercede conducere (to hire; e.g., milites): mercede arcessere (of soldiers from a different or foreign country, e.g., Germanos; Vid: Caes., B.G., 1, 31, init.).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for retain?
- The usual Latin words for “retain” are servō, cōnservō, alō; also retineō, accipiō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.