Remain Meaning
/ɹɪˈmeɪn/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounThat which is left; relic; remainder.
nounThat which is left of a human being after the life is gone; relics; a dead body.
Sentence Examples
How many days will you remain in London?
Come what may, we must remain cheerful.
The land will remain untouched for future generations to enjoy.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Despite the offer of a better job, she decided to ____ in her current position.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The cause of the fire was still under investigation and the building would ____ closed until further notice.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English remainen, from Old French remain-, stressed stem of remanoir, from Latin remaneō, maneō, from Proto-Indo-European *men- (“to stay”). Displaced native Middle English beliven, bliven (“to remain”) (from Old English belīfan (“to remain, stay”)) due to confluence with related Middle English beleven (“to leave behind”), with which it merged. More at beleave and belive.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Gather up the fragments that remain."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 6:12:
"SEM of the apopyles with apopylar cells and choanocyte chamber remaining on the wound surface."
— 2015 August 14, “Oscarella lobularis (Homoscleromorpha, Porifera) Regeneration: Epithelial Morphogenesis and Metaplasia”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI:
"Remain a widow at thy father's house."
— 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Genesis 38:11:
"We made an odd party before the arrival of the Ten, particularly when the Celebrity dropped in for lunch or dinner. He could not be induced to remain permanently at Mohair because Miss Trevor was at Asquith, but he appropriated a Hempstead cart from the Mohair stables and made the trip sometimes twice in a day."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter V, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC:
"But beyond these cut-offs, to avoid the wholesale alteration of all mileposting and mileages—of bridges and culverts, for example—the original mileposts have remained unaltered."
— 1946 July and August, “Mileposts and their Peculiarities”, in Railway Magazine, page 217:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
Despite the offer of a better job, she decided to ____ in her current position.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The cause of the fire was still under investigation and the building would ____ closed until further notice.