retectiont (retekshon)

[L. retectus, pp. of retegere, uncover, disclose, Syre Degrivaunt ys whom [home] went, And aftyr hys reten sent. IMG:content-2113.png:[blocks in formation] nue.] Retinue. Mede was ymaried in meteles me thouzte; That alle the riche retenauns that regneth with the false Were boden to the bridale. Piers Plowman (B), ii. 52. retentus, pp. of ret i That which is re retent (re-tent'), n. [L. nere, retain: see retain .] tained. Imp. Dict. retention (re-ten'shọn), n . [ rétention = Pr. retentio = Sp. retencion = Pg. retenção = It. ritenzione , retentio ( n- ), a re- taining, retinere , pp. retentus , retain: see re- tain .] 1. The act of retaining or keeping back; restraint; reserve. His life I gave him and did thereto add My love, without retention or restraint. Shak., T. N., v. 1. 84. 2. The act of retaining or holding as one's own; continued po e ion or ownership. While no thoughtful English man can defend the acquisition of India, yet a thoughtful English man may easily defend its retention. E. A. Freeman, Amer. Lects., p. 350. 3. Continuance or perseverance, as in the use or practice of anything; preservation. A froward retention of custom is as turbulent a thing as an innovation. Bacon , Advancement of Learning, vi. Looked at from the outside, the work [western doorway of tower of Trai] is of the best and most finished kind of Italian Romanesque; and we have here, what is by no means uncommon in Dalmatia, an example of the late re tention of the forms of that admirable style. E. A. Freeman, Venice, p. 182. 4. The act of retaining or keeping in mind; especially, that activity of the mind by which it retains ideas; the retentive faculty: often used as synonymous with memory. No woman's neart So big, to hold so much; they lack retention . Shak ., T. N., ii. 4. 99. The next faculty of the mind, whereby it makes a further progre towards knowledge, is that which I call retention , or the keeping of those simple ideas which from sensation or reflection it hath received. Locke, Human Understanding, ii. 10. Any particular acquisitive task will become easier, and more difficult feats of retention will become po ible. J. Sully , Outlines of Psychol., p. 287. Hence-51. That which retains impre ions, as a tablet. [Rare.] That poor retention could not so much hold, Nor need I tallies thy dear love to score; Therefore to give them from me was I bold, To trust those tables that receive thee more. Shak ., Sonnets, cxxii. 6. In med.: (a) The power of retaining, as in the stomach or bladder; inability to void or discharge: as, the retention of food or medicine by the stomach; retention of urine. Hence (b) A morbid accumulation of solid or liquid matter in ve els of the body or cavities intended to contain it only for a time. -7t. The state of being confined; custody; confinement. Sir, I thought it fit To send the old and miserable king To some retention and appointed guard. Shak., Lear, v. 3. 47. 8. In Scots law, a lien; the right of withholding a debt or retaining property until a debt due to the person claiming this right is duly paid. Retention cyst, a cyst which originates in the retention of some secretion, through obstruction in the efferent pa age. - Retention of urine, in med., a condition in which there is inability to empty the bladder voluntarily. Syn. 2. Reservation, preservation. See keep.