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Having power to retain; as, a retentive memory. Nor airless dungeon, nor strong links of iron, Can be retentive to the strength of spirit. Shak.

In a retentive manner.

The quality of being retentive.

The power of retaining; retentive force; as, the retentivity of a magnet.

A muscle which serves to retain an organ or part in place, esp. when retracted. See Illust. of Phylactolemata.

A white crystalline hydrocarbon produced indirectly from retene.

A remedy which restores the natural order of the inverted irritative motions in the animal system. [Obs.] E. Darwin.

To do justice to. [Obs.] Relieve [marginal reading, righten] the opressed. Isa. i. 17.

Held back; holding back; ritardando.

Having rotted; putrid; decayed; as, a rotten apple; rotten meat. Hence:

The mucilaginous drupaceous fruit of two East Indian trees (Cordia Myxa, and C. latifolia), sometimes used medicinally in pectoral diseases.

Begotten by one's self, or one's own powers.

The quality or state of being self-consistent.

Consistent with one's self or with itself; not deviation from the ordinary standard by which the conduct is guided; logically consistent throughout; having each part consistent with the rest.

Inherent existence; existence possessed by virtue of a being's own nature, and independent of any other being or cause; -- an attribute peculiar to God. Blackmore.

of or by himself,independent of any other being or cause; -- as, God is the only self-existent being.

Of or pertaining to half of a century, or a period of fifty years; as, a semicentennial commemoration.

Sense; meaning; significance. [Obs.] Tales of best sentence and most solace. Chaucer. The discourse itself, voluble enough, and full of sentence. Milton.

A method of teaching reading by giving first attention to phrases and sentences and later analyzing these into their verbal and alphabetic components; -- contrasted with alphabet and word methods.

One who pronounced a sentence or condemnation.