Retenaient (en. Held back)

/ʁə.tə.nɛ/

Meaning & Definition

EnglishFrench

verb

To preserve, maintain within oneself or in a space.

They were holding back their emotions during the ceremony.

Ils retenaient leurs émotions pendant la cérémonie.

To take care not to let something escape.

She had been keeping the secret for years.

Elle retenait le secret depuis des années.

To attract attention or interest.

The discussion held the attention of all participants.

La discussion retenait l'attention de tous les participants.

From the verb 'retenir', derived from Latin 'retinere'.

to hold one's breath

To temporarily stop breathing, often out of worry or anticipation.

retenir son souffle

to capture attention

To captivate someone's interest.

retenir l'attention

to hold onto a moment

To keep a precious moment in memory.

retenir un moment

to retain

Action of keeping or maintaining.

retenir

reserve

State of what is retained.

retenue

detention (in education)

Detention of a student due to insufficient results.

retenue (en éducation)

To pay attention to something.

Keep your eyes open, you need to remember all this.

Garde l'œil ouvert, il faut que tu retiens tout ça.

To take a situation into account.

You need to remember what he said in the meeting.

Il faut retenir ce qu'il a dit dans la réunion.