remain

Syllables: re·main/ɹɪˈmeɪn/

remain noun: that which is left; relic; remainder.

Noun

remain (plural remains)

(in plural) That which is left; relic; remainder.
(in 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.

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.
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.
Synonyms:

rest
To continue unchanged in place, form, or condition, or undiminished in quantity; to abide; to stay; to endure; to last.
- Promise me you will always remain my good little girl.
- She remained a force in local politics until her death.
Synonyms:

linger, endure
To await; to be left to.

Synonyms:

await
(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:

stay

remain meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu

remain in Hindi

that which is left; relic; remainder: अवशेष avśeṣ
to stay behind while others withdraw: रहना rahnā
to continue unchanged: टिकना ṭiknā

remain in Marathi

to remain, be left over: उरणे urṇe
to remain: राहणे rāhṇe

remain in Urdu

to stay behind while others withdraw: رہنا rahnā

More languagesFewer languages

remain in Bengali: রওয়া roōẇa, থাকা thaka
remain in Telugu: తక్కు takku
remain in Malayalam: തുഞ്ചുക tuñcuka
remain in Kannada: ದಕ್ಕು, ಉಳಿ, ಉಳಿದಿರು, ಇರು
remain in Punjabi: بچنا bacṇā
remain in Gujarati: વધવું vadhvũ
remain in Sanskrit: गाधते gādhate, तिष्ठति tíṣṭhati
remain in Assamese: ৰোৱা rüa, উকল ukol
remain in Nepali: बाँच्नु bā̃cnu
remain in Pashto: اوسېدل osedə́l
remain in Arabic: بَاقِي bāqī, بَقِيَ baqiya, مَكَثَ makaṯa
remain in Persian: بازماندن bâzmândan, ماندن mândan, پایداشتن pâydštan, استوار بودن ostovâr budan
remain in Thai: อยู่ yùu, คงอยู่ kong-yùu
remain in Vietnamese: ở lại, còn
remain in Myanmar: ကြွင်း krwang:, ကျန် kyan

Examples of remain in a sentence

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:
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...
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:
A broad section of the political class now recognises the need for change but remains unable to see the necessity of a fundamental overhaul.2013 June 28, Joris Luyendijk, “Our banks are out of control”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 3, page 21:

All 40 example sentences with remain

Synonyms of remain

7 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Antonyms

leave
be removed
be taken

All synonyms and antonyms of remain

Forms of remain

Noun
plural	remains
Verb
third-person singular present	remains
present participle	remaining
past participle	remained
past	remained
second-person singular present (archaic)	remainest
second-person singular past (archaic)	remainedst
third-person singular present (archaic)	remaineth

Past tense of remain: remained

Plural of remain: remains

Origin of remain

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.

Words formed from remain

Phrases with remain

rights to remain silent

Words that rhyme with remain

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about remain

What does remain mean?: Remain means that which is left; relic; remainder.
What is remain in Hindi?: Remain in Hindi is अवशेष (avśeṣ), रहना (rahnā), टिकना (ṭiknā). See Remain meaning in Hindi.
How do you use remain in a sentence?: SEM of the apopyles with apopylar cells and choanocyte chamber remaining on the wound surface.
What part of speech is remain?: Remain can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce remain?: Remain is pronounced /ɹɪˈmeɪn/.
What is the plural of remain?: The plural of remain is remains.

Words near remain in the dictionary

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-remain.ogg.

Cite this entry: “remain.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/remain. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.