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retention
/rɪˈtɛn.ʃən/
act of keeping
The company's employee retention rate improved after introducing better benefits.
The company kept more of its workers after improving benefits.
formal
The continued possession, use, or control of something.
The retention of customer data is crucial for personalized marketing.
Keeping customer data is important for tailored advertising.
The university focuses on student retention by providing academic support.
The university aims to keep students enrolled through support programs.
Common in business, education, and law contexts.
psychology
The ability to remember or recall information.
Memory retention decreases with age, according to cognitive studies.
Older adults tend to remember less information over time.
Often studied in educational psychology and neuroscience.
Engineering
technical
The action of absorbing and holding a substance.
The soil's retention capacity affects drainage during heavy rain.
How well soil holds water impacts flood risks.
Used in environmental science and material engineering.
Collocations
employee retentionkeeping workers employeddata retentionstoring data for future usememory retentionability to recall informationcustomer retentionkeeping customers loyal
Antonyms
Pro Tip
Common Mistakes
Do not confuse 'retention' with 'retainer' (a device to keep teeth in place). 'Retention' is about keeping something, not about a physical device.
Gold Rule
Formal Context
Use 'retention' in formal settings like reports, meetings, or academic papers. Avoid using it in casual conversations where simpler words like 'keeping' or 'holding' would suffice.
Word Origin
From Latin 'retentio(n-)', from 'retinere' (to hold back), from 're-' (back) + 'tenere' (to hold). First used in English in the 14th century.
Usage Notes
Common in formal contexts like business reports, academic writing, and technical documentation. Not typically used in casual conversation.
Word Breakdown
re-
back/again
prefixtenere
to hold
root-tion
act or state of
suffixEnglish Dictionary