different between retreat vs support

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English retret, from Old French retrait or retret, from Latin retractus, from retraho. Doublet of retract.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???t?i?t/
• Rhymes: -i?t

Noun

retreat (plural retreats)

1. The act of pulling back or withdrawing, as from something dangerous, or unpleasant.
2. The act of reversing direction and receding from a forward position.
3. A peaceful, quiet place affording privacy or security.
   • 1692, Roger L'Estrange, "Fable 100: An Old Man and a Lion", Fables of Aesop, page 115

     ... he built his son a house of pleasure, on purpose to keep him out of harm's way; and spared neither art nor cost to make it a delicious retreat.

   • That pleasing shade they sought, a soft retreat / From sudden April showers, a shelter from the heat.

4. (rare and obsolete, euphemistic) A peaceful, quiet place in which to urinate and defecate: an outhouse; a lavatory.
5. A period of retirement, seclusion, or solitude.

6. A period of meditation, prayer or study.
7. Withdrawal by military force from a dangerous position or from enemy attack.

8. A signal for a military withdrawal.
9. A bugle call or drumbeat signaling the lowering of the flag at sunset, as on a military base.
10. A military ceremony to lower the flag.
11. (chess) The move of a piece from a threatened position.

Related terms

• retract

Translations

Verb

retreat (third-person singular simple present retreats, present participle retreating, simple past and past participle retreated) (intransitive)

1. To withdraw from a position, go back.
   1. To withdraw militar forces

2. (of a glacier) To shrink back due to generally warmer temperatures.
3. To slope back.

   a retreating forehead

Translations

Etymology 2

re- +? treat

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?i??t?i?t/
• Rhymes: -i?t

Verb

retreat (third-person singular simple present retreats, present participle retreating, simple past and past participle retreated)

1. Alternative spelling of re-treat

Further reading

• Retreat in the Encyclopædia Britannica (11th edition, 1911)

Anagrams

• treater, tree rat

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Borrowed from English retreat. Doublet of retrett.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /r??tri?t/

Noun

retreat m (definite singular retreaten, indefinite plural retreater, definite plural retreatene)

1. a period of meditation, prayer or study; retreat
2. a location for such activities

Usage notes

• Prior to the 2005 spelling reform, this noun was considered grammatically neuter.

References

• “retreat” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “retreat” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Borrowed from English retreat. Doublet of retrett.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /r??tri?t/ (example of pronunciation)

Noun

retreat m (definite singular retreaten, indefinite plural retreatar, definite plural retreatane)

1. a period of meditation, prayer or study; retreat
2. a location for such activities

Usage notes

• Prior to a revision made alongside the 2005 Bokmål spelling reform, this noun was considered grammatically neuter.

References

• “retreat” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /s??p??t/, [s??p???t]
• (General American) IPA^(key): /s??p??t/, [s??p???t], [s??p?o?t]
• (rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /s??po(?)?t/
• (non-rhotic, without the horse–hoarse merger) IPA^(key): /s??po?t/
• Rhymes: -??(?)t
• Hyphenation: sup?port

Etymology 1

From Middle English supporten, from Old French supporter, from Latin support?. Displaced Old English underwreþian and Old English fultum.

Verb

support (third-person singular simple present supports, present participle supporting, simple past and past participle supported)

2. (transitive) To keep from falling.

3. (transitive) To answer questions and resolve problems regarding something sold.

5. (transitive) To back a cause, party, etc., mentally or with concrete aid.

6. (transitive) To help, particularly financially.
7. To verify; to make good; to substantiate; to establish; to sustain.
   • 1754, Jonathan Edwards, The Freedom of the Will

     to urge such arguments, as though they were sufficient to support and demonstrate a whole scheme of moral philosophy

8. (transitive) To serve, as in a customer-oriented mindset; to give support to.

9. (transitive) To be designed (said of machinery, electronics, or computers, or their parts, accessories, peripherals, or programming) to function compatibly with or provide the capacity for.

10. (transitive) To be accountable for, or involved with, but not responsible for.

11. (archaic) To endure without being overcome; bear; undergo; to tolerate.

    • This fierce demeanour and his insolence / The patience of a god could not support.

    • 1881, Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque:

      For a strong affection such moments are worth supporting, and they will end well; for your advocate is in your lover's heart and speaks her own language […]

12. To assume and carry successfully, as the part of an actor; to represent or act; to sustain.

Synonyms

• (to keep from falling): underprop, uphold, stut

Antonyms

• (to back a cause, party, etc.): oppose

Derived terms

• supportable
• supported
• supportive

Translations

Etymology 2

From Middle English support, from Anglo-Norman and Middle French support. Displaced Old English underwreþung.

Noun

support (countable and uncountable, plural supports)

1. (sometimes attributive) Something which supports.

2. Financial or other help.
3. Answers to questions and resolution of problems regarding something sold.

4. (mathematics) in relation to a function, the set of points where the function is not zero, or the closure of that set.
5. (fuzzy set theory) A set whose elements are at least partially included in a given fuzzy set (i.e., whose grade of membership in that fuzzy set is strictly greater than zero).

6. Evidence.

7. (computing) Compatibility and functionality for a given product or feature.

8. An actor playing a subordinate part with a star.
9. An accompaniment in music.
10. (gymnastics) Clipping of support position.
11. (structural analysis) Horizontal, vertical or rotational support of structures: movable, hinged, fixed. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Antonyms

• (mathematics): kernel

Hyponyms

• moral support
• (answers to questions and resolution of problems regarding something sold): first-level support, second-level support, third-level support
• (military): combat support

Derived terms

• support act
• support group

Translations

French

Etymology

From the verb supporter.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sy.p??/

Noun

support m (plural supports)

1. support
2. base
3. (heraldry) supporter

Further reading

• “support” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).