Retain
Retain verb - To continue to have in one's possession or power.
Transfer
Transfer verb - To put (something) into the possession or safekeeping of another.
Usage example: before she left the country, she transferred all her record books and important papers to her mother
Common collocations
| soul | retain soul | transfer soul |
| experience | retain experience | transfer experience |
| ability | retain ability | transfer ability |
| consciousness | retain consciousness | transfer consciousness |
| Other words: mind, power, part, beauty, position, body, control, knowledge, features, information, title, damage, memory, items, skills, powers, weapons, memories, abilities, stats, personalities, minds. | ||
Both words in one sentence
- Downplayed in Mass Effect 3: if you transfer a character from Mass Effect 2, you retain all your powers from where you left off.
Source: Bag Of Spilling / Video Games -
Old Save Bonus: If you have save data from a previous version, you can transfer it to the new version and retain titles, unlocked costumes, and more.
Source: Video Game / Dead or Alive 5
Cite this Source
Transfer and Retain. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/retain/transfer
Retain & Transfer. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/retain/transfer>.
Transfer or Retain. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/retain/transfer.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "retain" and "transfer" have occurred on timeline