Keep

Part of speech: verb, noun

Pronunciation: /kiːp/

Definitions

1. To continue having, holding, or maintaining possession of something
2. To hold onto something securely, maintain it over time, and ensure its preservation or continued existence
3. To retain possession or control of someone or something over a period of time ; to cause or allow someone or something to remain in a particular state or condition

Etymology: Old English "cēpan" meant "to seize" or "to hold," and its neighbours in the family carried the sense of watching: the Proto-Germanic root behind it meant "to look, heed, watch, observe." So the verb that now means holding onto something began with a meaning closer to keeping an eye on it. Middle English "kepen" carried both senses at once, to guard and to look after, and the idea of watching over something gradually shaded into holding it. A less expected branch sits in the dialects. Some English regional speech used "keep" to mean "put back" or "put away," and this may be a semantic loan from a local language, with Welsh "cadw" and Mandarin 收 (shōu) cited as parallels for that same spread of meaning. The noun came from the verb, first as "kepe" and "kep," meaning a guard or a stronghold. The sense of a fortified central tower, the keep of a castle, grows out of that same idea of guarding.

Synonyms: hold, retain, maintain

Antonyms: release, lose