▪ I. † reˈtentive, n. Obs.
Also 4–5 retentif, 5 -yf, -ywe, 5–6 -yve.
[a. OF. retentive fem.; or from the adj.]
1. The power of retaining things in the mind; recollection, memory.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xl. (Ninian) 42 In his hart [he] wele held It—sic retentywe he had of wit. c 1407 Lydg. Reson & Sens. 3735 Al that she taught him for his prowe Was voyde out of hys retentyf. 1454 Rolls of Parlt. V. 240/1 Theire good retentyve and wyse remembraunce. |
2. Retention. rare—1.
| 1471 Ripley Comp. Alch. iv. xiii. in Ashm. (1652) 147 Water to Erth hath given ingressyon,..And Water of Erth hath purchasyd retentive. |
3. A restraining force; a means of restraint.
| 1608 Bp. Andrewes Serm. (1841) IV. 25 Then upon this double charge followeth a double reason; two retentives, as it were, against the first motion. 1627 Bp. Hall Epist. vi. iii. 387 Feare is a retentiue as necessarie, not so ingenuous. 1650 Trapp Comm. Deut. i. 17 Cato seeth you, was an ancient watchword among the Romans, and a great retentive from evil. |
4. pl. The organs by which the natural excretions of the body are regulated.
| 1678 Jones Heart & its Right Soveraign 499 A weather⁓cock in the English, or the retentives of a suckling in the Brittish proverb, cannot be more uncertain, and unsteddy. 1717 De Foe Mem. Ch. Scot. i. 60 The Fright and Terror his Mother was in..so far influenc'd the Child in her Womb, that his Retentives generally fail'd him at the Sight of Weapons ever after. |
▪ II. reˈtentive, a.1
(rɪˈtɛntɪv)
Also 4 -if, 5 -yf (6 -yfe), -yue, -ywe.
[a. OF. retentif, -ive (It., Sp., Pg. retentivo), repr. L. type *retentīvus, f. ppl. stem of retinēre to hold back, retain.
In the following passage the word employed in the French original is latentive: 1490 Caxton Eneydos xxviii. 110 [Proserpine] shorteth theyr retentyue brethe.]
1. Of the mind or memory: Tenacious; good at remembering.
| c 1375 Sc. Leg. Saints xxvii. (Machor) 338 In his hart wele held [he] It, Ay retentywe he had a wyt. 1474 Caxton Chesse 159 The memory of the peple is not retentyf. 1509 Hawes Past. Pleas. xvi. (Percy Soc.) 60 Whan she was gone, inwardly than wrought Upon her beaute my mynde retentyfe. 1553 T. Wilson Rhet. 112 Memorie is the power retentive of the mynde to kepe those thinges whiche by mannes wit are conceived. 1607 Norden Surv. Dial. iv. 173 Many unlearned men haue better and more retentiue memories, than haue some Schollers. 1665 Glanvill Scepsis Sci. vi. 29 Those Musical Accents which our retentive faculty is preserver of. 1784 Tyers in Johnsoniana (1884) 186 So retentive was the memory of this man, that he could always recover whatever he lent to that faculty. 1821 Craig Lect. Drawing, etc. i. 57 The student in history, unless possessed of a mind uncommonly retentive [etc.]. 1875 Jowett Plato (ed. 2) IV. 287 Those who..have quick and ready and retentive wits, have generally also quick tempers. |
b. Of persons: Possessed of a good memory.
| 1758 Johnson Idler No. 1 ¶8 The Idler is always inquisitive and seldom retentive. 1868 E. Edwards Ralegh I. xxv. 612 Twenty-one years had then passed since those retentive Indians had seen his face. |
† 2. the retentive virtue or retentive faculty, the ability to retain the physical secretions, or to keep food within the stomach. Obs.
| c 1386 Chaucer Pars. T. ¶913 The humours been to ranke and habundaunt in the body of man; Somtyme of infermetee, for the fieblesse of the vertue retentif, as phisik maketh mencion. 1398 Trevisa Barth. De P. R. xvii. xxiv. (Bodl. MS.), Thei helpeþ aȝens the fluxe of the womb þ{supt} comeþ of defaute of þe vertu retentyue. c 1532 G. Du Wes Introd. Fr. in Palsgr. 1053 The..appetityve, the retentyve, the digestyve, and expulsive [virtues]. 1601 Holland Pliny II. Words of Art, Retentiue facultie, i. the naturall power that ech part or member of the body hath to hold that which is committed vnto it, [for] the due time. 1661 Lovell Hist. Anim. & Min. Isagoge, The fat hinders appetite..and decayeth the retentive powers. 1683 Tryon Way to Health 72 Then also the Retentive and Digestive Faculties do cease from their natural Operations. [1727–38 Chambers Cycl. s.v. Faculty, Others subdivide the vegetative faculty into attractive, retentive, concoctive, and expulsive.] |
| fig. 1597 Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. xxii. §7 It keepeth sermons in memory, and doth in that respect..help the retentive force of that stomach of the mind. a 1680 Butler Rem. (1759) II. 456 His Soul has no retentive Faculty, but suffers every Thing to run from him, as fast as he receives it. 1683 Cave Ecclesiastici Introd. 63 The old doting Nile had lost his retentive faculty, and could no longer hold his Water. |
† 3. Sparing, niggardly, disinclined to spend. Obs.
| c 1412 Hoccleve De Reg. Princ. 4504 Sche is a couetyse excessyf Of othres good; & of hire owne, sche So streit and hard is, and so retentyf, That it profyte may in no degree. 1654 H. L'Estrange Chas. I (1655) 130 Never was King more frugal, never King more retentive in his largesses. 1678 Marvell Growth Popery Wks. (Grosart) IV. 254 He had indeed of late been somewhat more retentive than formerly as to his faculty of disposing of kingdomes. |
4. Having the property of, tending or inclined to, the retention or keeping of something.
| 1582 J. Hester Secr. Phiorav. iii. xxxii. 47 The oyle of Honnie hath a vertue preseruatiue and retentiue of the haire. 1650 Bulwer Anthropomet. 141 More thankful to Nature and retentive of her benefits are they of Fez. 1661 J. Childrey Brit. Bacon. 57 Unless that kind of ground be more retentive of stains than others. 1722 De Foe Plague (1884) 271 Woolen manufactures are..retentive of infection. 1780 Howard Prisons Eng. & Wales 88 Neither the sides nor floors..were wood, that being more retentive of scents or infection than tarras or brick. 1806 Gazetteer Scot. (ed. 2) 55 A stiff, rich, deep clay, lying on a bed of limestone, which is very retentive of moisture. 1843 Dickens Christmas Carol ii. 49 Nor was it more retentive of its ancient state within. 1871 Earle Philol. Eng. Tongue §314 The verb is most retentive of antiquity. |
5. Holding or confining; keeping firm hold.
| 1601 Shakes. Jul. C. i. iii. 95 Nor ayrelesse Dungeon, nor strong Linkes of Iron, Can be retentiue to the strength of spirit. 1607 ― Timon iii. iv. 82 What, are my dores oppos'd against my passage?..must my house Be my retentiue Enemy? My Gaole? 1708 J. Philips Cyder ii. 378 From retentive cage When sullen Philomel escapes, her notes She varies. 1725 Pope Odyss. iv. 567 Yet still retentive, with redoubled might Through each vain passive form [do thou] constrain his flight. |
b. Surg. Serving to keep (a dressing, organ, etc.) in the proper place.
| 1597 A. M. tr. Guillemeau's Fr. Chirurg. 45/1 That ligament which..cureth through his continuance of the remedyes applyed vnto the dissease, wherfore we may call it the retentive Ligament. 1634 T. Johnson Parey's Chirurg. ix. v. (1678) 219 The Retentive Ligature is fit for such parts as cannot suffer strait binding. 1767 Gooch Treat. Wounds I. 205 To alter the bandage, making it only retentive. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. IV. 347 Many forms of special retentive apparatus [for movable kidney] have been devised. |
c. Apt to retain or hold moisture.
| 1730–46 Thomson Autumn 815, I see the sands, The pebbly gravel next, the layers then Of mingled moulds, of more retentive earths. 1844 H. Stephens Bk. Farm I. 485 The water supplied from rain or snow is interrupted in its progress by the retentive beds. 1878 Huxley Physiogr. 37 The lower part of the chalk which becomes stiff and retentive. |
d. Cohesive; hard to separate. rare.
| 1721 Bradley Philos. Acc. Wks. Nat. 4 The Soap and Sand will be more retentive, and will not separate without some difficulty. |
† 6. Restrained, cautious, reticent. Obs.
| 1599 Broughton's Let. 46 So shall you be..retentiue of your slaunders, and lesse selfe-boasting of your great sufficiencies. 1603 Holland Plutarch's Mor. 1352 If then there be any place in the consideration of the secrets of God, where we ought to be retentive, warie and discret, it is in this. 1626 T. H[awkins] Caussin's Holy Crt. 513 These harts formerly vnited, were now vpon breach, which notwithstanding neuer outwardly appeared, so retentiue they were on both sides. |
Hence reˈtentively adv.
| 1816 Southey Poet's Pilgr. i. 8 One dear girl, just ripe enough of age Retentively to see what I should see. |
▪ III. † reˈtentive, a.2 Obs. rare—1.
[f. as retent v. + -ive.]
That reverberates or resounds.
| 1728 Pope Dunc. ii. 263 Long Chanc'ry lane retentive rolls the sound, And courts to courts return it round and round. |