Retention and detentionWord for the Wise June 08, 2007 Broadcast Topic: Retention and detention A question about retention versus detention held our curiosity.
Since retention refers to an act of retaining and detention to an act of detaining, we'll keep our curiosity moving in the direction of the verbs behind the nouns.
(来源：2hzz.
com) Retain is rich in meanings: it can mean to keep in possession or use; to keep in one's pay or service; to keep in mind or memory; or to hold secure or intact.
Detain, meanwhile, can mean to hold or keep in or as if in custody; or to restrain, especially from proceeding.
Both retain and detain share an ancestor in the Latin tenere, meaning to hold.
The de in detain means from; away; the re in retain means again; anew.
It's easy enough to understand the sense development of words meaning to hold away (from) and to hold again or anew, but hold on as we distinguish between the keeping associated with retaining and the keeping associated with detaining.
Detain implies keeping something for longer than expected or usual, a delay in letting go from one's control; retain implies continued keeping, especially against a threatened taking or loss.
Where does keep fit in?
Hold onto your hats: the Old English ancestor of that very old word meant to observe, seek, heed, or seize.