Retainer

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ɹɪˈteɪn.ə/

Definitions

1. A fee paid in advance to secure the ongoing services of a professional, or a device worn to maintain the position of teeth after orthodontic treatment
2. An advance payment made to guarantee future professional services, or an orthodontic device designed to hold teeth in their corrected positions after treatment
3. A sum paid beforehand to ensure continuous service from a provider, or an appliance used post-orthodontics to stabilize tooth alignment

Etymology: The word "retainer" is a straightforward formation: the verb "retain" (from Old French "retenir," from Latin "retinēre," meaning to hold back or keep) plus the agent suffix "-er," which here comes through Middle English "-er" from Old French "-ier," ultimately from Latin "-arius." The suffix itself has a long pedigree, travelling from Proto-Italic and Proto-Germanic forms into Old English, where "-ere" marked a person who did something. The sense of a "retainer" as a person kept in a household or following is the older one, and it grew out of the notion of someone held on to or kept in service. The financial sense, a sum paid in advance to secure a provider's continued availability, is a later extension built on the same idea of holding something in place. The orthodontic sense, a device that holds teeth in their new position after braces come off, applies the same logic to a physical object.

Synonyms: holder, keeper, supporter, assistant, subordinate

Antonyms: remover, discharger, abandoner, dismisser, opposer