different between retain vs irretention

English

From Middle French, Old French retenir, from Vulgar Latin *retin?re, from Latin retine? (“hold back”), from re- + tene? (“to hold”)

retain (third-person singular simple present retains, present participle retaining, simple past and past participle retained)

(transitive) To keep in possession or use.
- 1886, Eleanor Marx-Aveling (translator), Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, first published 1856, Part III Chapter XI
  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.
(transitive) To keep in one's pay or service.
- A Benedictine convent has now retained the most learned father of their order to write in its defence.}}
(transitive) To employ by paying a retainer.
(transitive) To hold secure.
(transitive, education) To hold back (a pupil) instead of allowing them to advance to the next class or year.
(obsolete) To restrain; to prevent.
(intransitive, obsolete) To belong; to pertain.
- 1661, Robert Boyle, A Physico-chemical Essay, Containing an Experiment Touching the Differing Parts and. Redintegration of Salt-Petre
  A somewhat languid relish, retaining to bitterness.

ir- +? retention

irretention

Absence of retention; the state or quality of being irretentive; lack of power to retain information
Synonym: forgetfulness

irretention in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
irretention in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

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