remain
remain Lexical Profile
remain Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To continue to possess a particular quality, state, or condition without changing.
"Despite the heated debate, the committee chairperson remained calm and objective throughout the meeting."
To stay in the same place after others have left or during a specified period.
"Passengers are requested to remain in their seats until the aircraft has come to a complete standstill."
To continue to exist or be left over after other parts or elements have been used, removed, or destroyed.
"Only a few crumbling stone walls remain of the medieval fortress."
To be left still to be done, addressed, said, or dealt with.
"Several important legal questions remain to be settled before the contract can be signed."
• noun
The parts, fragments, or traces of something that are left over after other parts have been removed, used, or destroyed, or after the passage of time (usually used in the plural, 'remains').
"Archaeologists uncovered the ancient remains of a Roman villa beneath the modern city street."
A person's or animal's dead body or skeletal parts (used in the plural, 'remains').
"The explorer's mortal remains were eventually returned to his homeland for burial."
Word Nuance & Usage
As a noun, 'remain' is almost exclusively used in the plural form ('remains') to refer to physical leftovers, historical ruins, or a deceased body. As a verb, it is strictly intransitive and copular, never taking a direct object.
• Rhymes for remain
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed in Middle English from Old French remaindre, from Latin remanere ('to stay behind, endure'), formed from re- ('back') and manere ('to stay, abide').
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.