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Appoint vs Retain - What's the difference?

appoint | retain |

In lang=en terms the difference between appoint and retain

is that appoint is to furnish completely; to provide with all the equipment necessary; to equip or fit out while retain is to hold secure.

As verbs the difference between appoint and retain

is that appoint is (obsolete|transitive) to fix with power or firmness; to establish; to mark out while retain is to keep in possession or use.

appoint

English

Verb

(en verb)
  • (obsolete) To fix with power or firmness; to establish; to mark out.
  • * 1611 , (King James Version) Proverbs 8.29
  • When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:
  • To fix the time and place of a meeting (by a decree, order, command etc.)
  • * 8 November 2014 , Ivan Hewett in The Telegraph'', '' Art on demand makes emperors of us all
  • *:We have to wait until they're ready to receive us, and make sure we turn up at the appointed time.
  • * 1820 , The Edinburgh Annual Register
  • *:His Royal Highness called to pay his respects to her Majesty ; but, from the unexpected nature of his visit, her Majesty was not in a state then to receive him ; but soon after sent a letter to Prince Leopold, to appoint one o'clock this day for an interview.
  • * 1611 , (King James Version) 2 Samuel 15.15
  • Thy servants are ready to do whatsoever my lord the king shall appoint .
  • To give a job or a role to somebody
  • * 3 November 2014 , Fredric U. Dicker in the (New York Post), '' Cuomo appointed 'vote or else' strategist
  • *:Neal Kwatra, appointed by Cuomo to be the state Democratic Party's chief campaign strategist, was identified by two key Democratic insiders
  • * 1611 , (King James Version) Numbers 4.19
  • Aaron and his shall go in, and appoint them every one to his service.
  • To furnish completely; to provide with all the equipment necessary; to equip or fit out.
  • * 2009 , Donald Olson, Germany for Dummies
  • *:The hotel is beautifully designed and beautifully appointed in a classic, modern style that manages to be both serene and luxurious at the same time.
  • (archaic, transitive, legal) To direct, designate, or limit; to make or direct a new disposition of, by virtue of a power contained in a conveyance;—said of an estate already conveyed.
  • :(Alexander Mansfield Burrill)
  • To point at by way of censure or commendation; to arraign.
  • * Milton
  • Appoint not heavenly disposition.

    Derived terms

    * appointee * appointer * appointive * appointment * self-appointed

    retain

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To keep in possession or use.
  • * Milton
  • Be obedient, and retain / Unalterably firm his love entire.
  • * 1856 : (Gustave Flaubert), (Madame Bovary), Part III Chapter XI, translated by Eleanor Marx-Aveling
  • A strange thing was that Bovary, while continually thinking of Emma, was forgetting her. He grew desperate as he felt this image fading from his memory in spite of all efforts to retain it. Yet every night he dreamt of her; it was always the same dream. He drew near her, but when he was about to clasp her she fell into decay in his arms.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1963, author=(Margery Allingham)
  • , title=(The China Governess) , chapter=1 citation , passage=The original family who had begun to build a palace to rival Nonesuch had died out before they had put up little more than the gateway, so that the actual structure which had come down to posterity retained the secret magic of a promise rather than the overpowering splendour of a great architectural achievement.}}
  • To keep in one's pay or service.
  • * Addison
  • A Benedictine convent has now retained the most learned father of their order to write in its defence.
  • To employ by paying a retainer.
  • To hold secure.
  • (obsolete) To restrain; to prevent.
  • (obsolete) To belong; to pertain.
  • * Boyle
  • A somewhat languid relish, retaining to bitterness.

    Synonyms

    * keep

    Anagrams

    * *