retain

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
retain/rɪˈteɪn/

▶verb

• 1 continue to have; keep possession of.

  ■ not abolish, discard, or alter.

  ■ keep in one's memory.

• 2 absorb and continue to hold (a substance).

• 3 keep in place; hold fixed.

• 4 keep engaged in one's service.

  ■ secure the services of (a barrister) with a preliminary payment.

– derivatives
retainability noun,
retainable adjective,
retaining adjective,
retainment noun.

– origin ME: via Anglo-Norman Fr. from OFr. retenir, from L. retinere, from re- ‘back’ + tenere ‘hold’.