remain
verbEtymology From Middle English remainen, from Old French remain-, stressed stem of remanoir, from Latin remaneō, maneō, from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to stay”). Displaced native Middle English beliven, bliven (“to remain”) (from Old English belīfan (“to remain, stay”)) due to confluence with related Middle English beleven (“to leave behind”), with which it merged. More at beleave and belive.
To stay after others or other parts have been removed or otherwise disappeared.
- After three rounds of interviews, only 5 candidates remained.
- I like to make more than enough food if I have people round for dinner, so I can eat my way through what remains in the following days.
2 more examples
- Gather up the fragments that remain.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 6:12:
- SEM of the apopyles with apopylar cells and choanocyte chamber remaining on the wound surface.2015 August 14, “Oscarella lobularis (Homoscleromorpha, Porifera) Regeneration: Epithelial Morphogenesis and Metaplasia”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI:
Mathematics, Sciences To be left after a number or quantity has been subtracted or cut off; to be left as not included or comprised.
- If you divide 20 apples between three people, each gets six and two remain.
To continue unchanged in place, form, or condition, or undiminished in quantity; to abide; to stay; to endure; to last.
- Promise me you will always remain my good little girl.
- Remain a widow at thy father's house.1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 38:11:
4 more examples
- , Book I That […] remains to be proved.
- We made an odd party before the arrival of the Ten, particularly when the Celebrity dropped in for lunch or dinner. He could not be induced to remain permanently at Mohair because Miss Trevor was at Asquith, but he appropriated a Hempstead cart from the Mohair stables and made the trip sometimes twice in a day.1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
- But beyond these cut-offs, to avoid the wholesale alteration of all mileposting and mileages—of bridges and culverts, for example—the original mileposts have remained unaltered.1946 July and August, “Mileposts and their Peculiarities”, in Railway Magazine, page 217:
- Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […] But the scandals kept coming, […]. A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul. Instead it offers fixes and patches.2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:
To await; to be left to.
To continue in a state of being.
- There was no food in the house, so I had to remain hungry.
- The light remained red for two full minutes.
- Synonyms
- linger, stay, tarry, rest, endure, last, stand, await, bide, wait, belave, abide, beleave, belive, continue, dwell, keep, remain
- Antonyms
- leave, be removed, be taken
- Derived terms
- Bremain, Bremoaner, remainee, remainer, Remainer, Remainiac, remain to be seen, right to remain silent
- Related terms
- remainder
- Hyponyms
- sojourn