retain
v.v. to keep something and not lose it. You can retain information in your memory, or a company can retain its best employees.
v. to continue to have, hold, or keep something, preventing it from being lost, removed, or forgotten.
This special fabric retains heat in the winter.
The company introduced new benefits to retain its top talent and reduce employee turnover.
Despite the passage of decades, he could still retain the precise details of that afternoon with astonishing clarity, as if it were yesterday.
From Late Middle English reteinen, retein (“to continue to keep, retain; to continue to possess; to possess; to contain; to draw back, retire; to hold back, restrain; to keep in mind, remember; to take back, repossess; to appoint; to engage in one’s service, employ, hire”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman reteiner, retenir [and other forms], Middle French retenir, and Old French retenir (“to keep back, retain; to keep, maintain, preserve; to possess; to engage in one’s service, employ; to detain; to hold back, restrain; to remember”) (modern French retenir), from Vulgar Latin retinīre, from Latin retinēre, the present active infinitive of retineō (“to keep or hold back, detain, retain; to hold in check, stop; to hold fast, maintain; to keep in mind, remember”) (compare Late Latin retineō (“to keep engaged in one’s service”)), from re- (prefix meaning ‘again’) + teneō (“to grasp, hold; to hold fast, restrain; to possess; to keep in mind, remember”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European ten- (“to extend, stretch”)). Etymology 1 sense 1.10 (“to declare (a sin) not forgiven”) is derived from John 20:23 in the Bible, in Late Latin quorum retinueritis, retenta sunt, and in Koine Greek ἄν τινων κρατῆτε, κεκράτηνται: see the 1526 quotation. Cognates * Catalan retenir * Italian retenere (obsolete), ritenere * Portuguese reter * Spanish retener
Partly: * from Middle English retein, retain (“possession of a sum of money”) […]; and * from the verb (see etymology 1).
The verb is transitive and always takes a direct object.
the company's retain of employeesthe company's retention of employeesLearners may incorrectly use the verb 'retain' as a noun, instead of the correct noun form 'retention'.