remain

English

Etymology

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.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈmeɪn/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -eɪn
Hyphenation: re‧main

Noun

remain (plural remains)

(chiefly in the plural) That which is left; relic; remainder.
(in the plural) That which is left of a human being after the life is gone; relics; a dead body.
Posthumous works or productions, especially literary works.
(obsolete) State of remaining; stay.

Translations

That which is left; relic; remainder

Arabic: بَاقِي‎ (bāqī)
Bulgarian: остатък (bg) m (ostatǎk)
Danish: rest (da) c
Finnish: jäänne (fi)
French: reste (fr) m
Georgian: ნარჩენი (narčeni)
Hebrew: זֵכֶר‎ (he) m (zécher)
Polish: pozostałości pl
Portuguese: resto (pt) m, resquício (pt) m
Serbo-Croatian: ostatak (sh)
Spanish: resto (es) m, restos (es) m pl
Swedish: kvarvara n
Ukrainian: ре́шта f (réšta), за́лишок m (zályšok), оста́ча f (ostáča) (division remainder)

That which is left of a being after its life is gone — see remains

The posthumous works or productions, especially literary works of one who is dead

State of remaining; stay

Finnish: oleskelu (fi)
Georgian: დარჩენა (darčena)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: مانەوە‎ (ku) (manewe)
Venetian: star (vec)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

German: ^{(please verify)} Überrest (de) m (2), ^{(please verify)} Überreste (de) m (3), ^{(please verify)} sterbliche Überreste m (3)
Swedish: ^{(please verify)} kvarblivande (1), ^{(please verify)} kvarbliva (2), ^{(please verify)} kvarlevor (sv) (3), ^{(please verify)} kvarlåtenskap (sv) (4)

Verb

remain (third-person singular simple present remains, present participle remaining, simple past and past participle remained)

To stay after others or other parts have been removed or otherwise disappeared.
After three rounds of interviews, only 5 candidates remained.
I like to make more than enough food if I have people round for dinner, so I can eat my way through what remains in the following days.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, John 6:12:
  Gather up the fragments that remain.
(mathematics) To be left after a number or quantity has been subtracted or cut off; to be left as not included or comprised.
If you divide 20 apples between three people, each gets six and two remain.
To continue unchanged in place, form, or condition, or undiminished in quantity; to abide; to stay; to endure; to last.
- 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Genesis 38:11:
  Remain a widow at thy father's house.
- 1689 December (indicated as 1690), [John Locke], Two Treatises of Government: […], London: […] Awnsham Churchill, […], OCLC 83985187:
  , Book I
  That […] remains to be proved.
- 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 222716698:
  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.
- 2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:
  Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic […]. Until 2008 there was denial over what finance had become. […] But the scandals kept coming, […]. A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul. Instead it offers fixes and patches.
To await; to be left to.
(copulative) To continue in a state of being.
There was no food in the house, so I had to remain hungry.
The light remained red for two full minutes.

Synonyms

(to stay behind while others withdraw): linger, stay, tarry; See also Thesaurus:stay behind
(to be left over after a portion is removed): rest, stay; See also Thesaurus:remain
(to continue unchanged): endure, last, stay; See also Thesaurus:persist
(to await; to be left to): await, bide, wait; See also Thesaurus:wait for
(to continue in a state of being): stay
belave

Derived terms

remain to be seen

Translations

to stay behind while others withdraw

Afar: suge
Albanian: rri (sq), qëndroj (sq)
Arabic: بَقِيَ‎ (ar) (baqiya), مَكَثَ‎ (makaṯa)
Armenian: մնալ (hy) (mnal)
Bashkir: ҡалыу (qalıw)
Belarusian: застава́цца impf (zastavácca), заста́цца pf (zastácca)
Bulgarian: оста́вам (bg) impf (ostávam), оста́на pf (ostána)
Burmese: ကြွင်း (my) (krwang:), ကျန် (my) (kyan)
Catalan: quedar-se (ca), restar (ca)
Cheyenne: -sétoo'e
Chinese:
Mandarin: 留 (zh) (liú), 留下 (zh) (liúxià), 呆 (zh) (dāi), 剩 (zh) (shèng), (to be left over) 剩下 (zh) (shèngxia)
Czech: zůstat (cs) pf, zbýt (cs) pf
Danish: blive (da), forblive
Dutch: blijven (nl), achterblijven (nl)
Esperanto: resti
Finnish: jäädä jäljelle, olla jäljellä
French: rester (fr)
Galician: quedar (gl), ficar (gl)
German: bleiben (de), (stay behind) zurückbleiben (de), (to be left over) übrigbleiben (de)
Gothic: 𐌱𐌹𐌻𐌴𐌹𐌱𐌰𐌽 (bileiban)
Greek: παραμένω (el) (paraméno)
Ancient: μένω (ménō)
Hebrew: נִשְׁאַר‎ (nish'ár)
Hindi: रहना (hi) (rahnā)
Hungarian: marad (hu)
Icelandic: dvelja
Ingrian: jäävvä
Italian: stare (it), restare (it), rimanere (it)
Jamaican Creole: tan
Japanese: 残る (ja) (のこる, nokoru), 居残る (いのこる, inokoru), とどまる (ja) (todomaru), 留まる (ja) (とまる, tomaru)
Karakhanid: قَلْماقْ‎ (qalmāq)
Khmer: ឋិត (km) (thət), នៅនឹង (nɨwnɨng)
Korean: 머무르다 (ko) (meomureuda)
Lao: ຢູ່ (yū)
Latin: sto (la), maneo (la), teneo (la), remaneo
Latvian: please add this translation if you can
Macedonian: останува impf (ostanuva), остане pf (ostane)
Maori: rarau, toe, whakanānā
North Frisian: (Mooring) bliwe, (Föhr-Amrum) bliiw, (Sylt) bliiv
Norwegian:
Bokmål: forbli
Occitan: remàner, restar
Old English: bīdan
Oromo: hafuu
Ottoman Turkish: قالمق‎ (qalmaq)
Persian: بازماندن‎ (fa) (bâzmândan), ماندن‎ (fa) (mândan)
Polish: pozostawać (pl) impf, pozostać (pl) pf
Portuguese: ficar (pt), permanecer (pt), sobrar (pt) (of things), restar (pt), remanescer (pt)
Romani: aćhel
Romanian: rămâne (ro)
Russian: остава́ться (ru) impf (ostavátʹsja), оста́ться (ru) pf (ostátʹsja)
Saho: suge
Sanskrit: गाधते (gādhate), तिष्ठति (sa) (tíṣṭhati)
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: о̀стати pf
Roman: òstati (sh) pf
Slovak: zostať pf
Slovene: ostati (sl) pf
Spanish: quedarse (es), sobrar (es)
Swedish: bli kvar, kvarbliva, stanna kvar, förbli (sv)
Thai: อยู่ (th) (yùu), คงอยู่ (kong-yùu)
Tocharian B: lip-, sāk-
Turkish: kalmak (tr), artakalmak (tr) (to be left over)
Ukrainian: залиша́тися impf (zalyšátysja), залиши́тися pf (zalyšýtysja), зостава́тися impf (zostavátysja), зоста́тися pf (zostátysja), лиша́тися impf (lyšátysja), лиши́тися pf (lyšýtysja)
Urdu: رہنا‎ (rahnā)
Vietnamese: ở lại (vi)
Yiddish: בלײַבן‎ (blaybn)
Zazaki: menden

to be left over after a portion is removed

Bashkir: ҡалыу (qalıw)
Bulgarian: оставам (bg) (ostavam)
Finnish: jäädä jäljelle, olla jäljellä
German: übrigbleiben (de)
Khmer: សល់ (km) (sɑl)
Quechua: puchuy
Russian: остава́ться (ru) impf (ostavátʹsja), оста́ться (ru) pf (ostátʹsja)
Spanish: sobrar (es), restar (es) (intransitive)
Tocharian B: lip-
Turkish: artakalmak (tr)
Ukrainian: залиша́тися impf (zalyšátysja), залиши́тися pf (zalyšýtysja), зостава́тися impf (zostavátysja), зоста́тися pf (zostátysja), лиша́тися impf (lyšátysja), лиши́тися pf (lyšýtysja)

to continue unchanged

Arabic: بَقِيَ‎ (ar) (baqiya)
Armenian: մնալ (hy) (mnal)
Aromanian: armãn
Cherokee: ᎡᏙᎮᏍᏗᏉᎠ (edohesdiquoa)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 逗留 (zh) (dòuliú)
Czech: zůstat (cs)
Dutch: blijven (nl), resteren (nl)
Esperanto: resti
Finnish: jäädä (fi), pysyä (fi)
French: demeurer (fr), rester (fr)
Galician: quedar (gl)
Georgian: please add this translation if you can
German: bleiben (de)
Greek:
Ancient: μένω (ménō)
Istro-Romanian: rămăre
Italian: rimanere (it)
Japanese: 残る (ja) (のこる, nokoru)
Khmer: នៅ (km) (nɨw)
Korean: 머무르다 (ko) (meomureuda)
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: مایەوە‎ (mayewe)
Latin: sto (la), maneo (la), sedeo
Maori: waiho
Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
Ngazidja Comorian: usalia
Persian: پایداشتن‎ (pâydštan), استوار بودن‎ (ostovâr budan)
Portuguese: permanecer (pt), continuar (pt)
Romanian: rămâne (ro)
Russian: остава́ться (ru) impf (ostavátʹsja), оста́ться (ru) pf (ostátʹsja)
Sanskrit: तिष्ठति (sa) (tíṣṭhati)
Slovene: obstati
Spanish: permanecer (es)
Swedish: återstå (sv), stanna kvar, kvarstå (sv)
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: kalmak (tr), korumak (tr)
Ukrainian: залиша́тися impf (zalyšátysja), залиши́тися pf (zalyšýtysja), зостава́тися impf (zostavátysja), зоста́тися pf (zostátysja), лиша́тися impf (lyšátysja), лиши́тися pf (lyšýtysja)
Vietnamese: còn (vi)
Yiddish: בלײַבן‎ (blaybn)

to await; to be left to

Esperanto: resti
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: چاوەڕێ‎ (çawerrê)
Portuguese: esperar (pt)
Swedish: kvarlämnas
Ukrainian: очі́кувати impf (očíkuvaty)

to continue in a state of being

Finnish: pysyä (fi)
German: bleiben (de)
Greek:
Ancient: μένω (ménō)
Sanskrit: तिष्ठति (sa) (tíṣṭhati)
Spanish: continuar (es), permanecer (es)
Swedish: förbli (sv), förbliva (sv) (dated), fortsätta att vara
Turkish: sürdürmek (tr)
Ukrainian: залиша́тися impf (zalyšátysja), залиши́тися pf (zalyšýtysja), зостава́тися impf (zostavátysja), зоста́тися pf (zostátysja), лиша́тися impf (lyšátysja), лиши́тися pf (lyšýtysja)
Yiddish: בלײַבן‎ (blaybn)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Albanian: ^{(please verify)} mbetur (sq), ^{(please verify)} tepruar, ^{(please verify)} ngelur (sq)

Anagrams

Amrine, Armine, Mainer, Marien, Marine, Marnie, Merina, Minear, Reiman, Rieman, airmen, mainer, marine