different between retent vs detent

English

Etymology

From Latin retentum, from retentus, perfect passive participle of retine?. See retain.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???t?nt/

Noun

retent (plural retents)

1. That which is retained.
   • 1854, Laurens Perseus Hickok, Empirical Psychology: Or, The Science of Mind from Experience

     The retent, when known, stands before us as if reflected and inverted in a mirror, the nearest events in the past being this way the nearest as actually remembered.

Anagrams

• Netter, netter, tenter

Catalan

Verb

retent

1. present participle of retre

English

Etymology

From French détente, from Latin tend? (“to stretch”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /d??t?nt/ or IPA^(key): /?di?t?nt/
• Rhymes: -?nt
• Hyphenation: de?tent

Noun

detent (plural detents)

1. That which locks or unlocks a movement; a catch, pawl, or dog; especially, in clockwork, the catch which locks and unlocks the wheelwork in striking.
   • 1972, Mayer et al., United States Patent 3760640, abstract:

     A UHF tuner having 70 detent positions with fine tuning capability at all locations. Coarse tuning is accomplished via a toothed, detented disk and a spirally-extending rim having a follower lever operable therewith.

Verb

detent (third-person singular simple present detents, present participle detenting, simple past and past participle detented)

1. The action of creating a detent mechanism to lock or unlock movement.

Further reading

• detent in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• detent in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• detent at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• netted, tented