556: maintain, detain, retain, and contain Jun 16, 2016

What do the words 'maintain', 'detain', 'retain',  and 'contain', all have in common?: a number of things, but they all relate to the idea of keeping things. In addition, all of the words come from compounds of the word 'tenere' which is the Latin word for 'to hold' 'to touch' or 'to take'. Some of that list has retained its original meaning, while others like 'maintain' which comes from 'manu' meaning 'hand' as in "to hold in the hand".