English → Latin
“retentive” in Latin
tenāxclinging; tenacious; close-fisted, niggardly, stingyvigeōto be vigorous or thriving; thrive, flourish; to be in honor, esteem or repute; prosper; to be alive, livetantusof such size, of such measure; so much, so great, such, so manyHortēnsiusof or pertaining to the gens Hortensia.
The English word retentive itself goes back to Latin rĕtentus, through retentivus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
retentive
by circumlocution with the verbs in To RETAIN.A retentive memory, memoria bona (Cic., Att.), tenax: a more retentive memory, memoria melior (Cic.): a very retentive one, tenacissima (Quint.): to have a retentive memory, memoria valere, vigere. If preceded by “so” - (that), tantus. Anybody had so retentive a memory, that, alicui memoria tauta fuit, ut, etc. (e.g., Hortensio, Cic.).
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for retentive?
- The usual Latin words for “retentive” are tenāx, vigeō, tantus; also Hortēnsius. 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.