Italian

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Etymology

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From tra- +‎ tenere. Compare Sicilian trattèniri.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /trat.teˈne.re/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Rhymes: -ere
  • Hyphenation: trat‧te‧né‧re

Verb

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trattenére (first-person singular present trattèngo, first-person singular past historic tratténni or trattènni, past participle trattenùto, first-person singular future tratterrò, auxiliary avére) (transitive)

  1. to hold (someone) (back); to restrain; to harness, especially to stop from running away
    Synonyms: frenare, arrestare; see also Thesaurus:trattenere
  2. to confine (someone) (in at/a place), especially to hold in police custody
    Synonyms: rinchiudere, chiudere, segregare, imprigionare, incarcerare
    trattenere il sospetto al commissariatoto keep the suspect at the police station
  3. (by extension) to confine (someone) [with a (+ infinitive) ‘to do’]
    mi hanno trattenuto al lavoro
    they kept me at work
  4. to dissuade (someone) [with da ‘from’]
    Synonyms: distogliere, impedire, dissuadere, sconsigliare, ostacolare
    trattenerlo da una decisione inconsultato dissuade him from (making) a rash decision
  5. to keep to oneself; to withhold
    Synonyms: tenere per , confiscare, impadronirsi, incamerare, congelare, pignorare
    trattieni la ricevutawithhold the receipt
  6. to suppress (laughter, an expression, etc.)
    Synonyms: soffocare, reprimere; see also Thesaurus:reprimere
    trattenere le lacrimeto suppress one's tears
  7. to deduct
  8. (rare) to entertain
    Synonyms: divertire, intrattenere, distrarre, far compagnia, far passare il tempo, ospitare, invitare

Conjugation

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Derived terms

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Anagrams

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