retentivelyadv.
/rᵻˈtɛntᵻvli/, U.S. /rəˈtɛn(t)ᵻvli/, /riˈtɛn(t)ᵻvli/ With (a considerable degree of) retention; in a retentive manner; so as to retain something.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > mental capacity > memory > retention in the mind > [adverb]
retentively?a1425
?a1425 tr. Catherine of Siena Orcherd of Syon (Harl.) (1966) 127 Mynde or memorye is brouȝt to as for þe þridde, for to kepe and holde retentifly.
1655 Duchess of Newcastle Philos. & Physical Opinions ccii. 158 These fiery motions do not alwayes work expulsively, but contractively, attractively, and retentively.
1658 R. Baxter Crucifying of World i. xvii. 99 How attentively would you hear? how retentively would you remember?
1707 W. Burkitt Expos. Notes New Test. (ed. 3) Luke viii. 15 The good Christian hears the Word attentively, keeps it retentively,..and brings forth Fruit perseveringly.
1770 M. Pilkington Gentleman's Dict. Painters 558 Those admirable objects..were impressed so retentively on his memory, that he could design any of them exactly.
1816 R. Southey Poet's Pilgrimage to Waterloo i. 8 One dear girl, just ripe enough of age Retentively to see what I should see.
1866 C. W. Hoskyns Occas. Ess. 75 All which has been so retentively clung to, of Norman laws and usage in relation to landed property.
1910 E. C. Booth Doctor's Lass xxvii. 225 On a sudden she clasped his arm retentively.
1951 C. E. M. Joad Pleasure of being Oneself iii. 52 How retentively one's own memory holds the list of historical dates..which one got up early in the morning to learn.
2006 J. Aristegui et al. in A. R. Robinson & K. H. Brink Global Coastal Ocean: Interdisciplinary Regional Stud. & Syntheses xxiii. 905 The filament in this case acts retentively and provides a nursery within which the larvae may grow.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2010; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adv.?a1425