Meaning of "keep" in the English dictionary

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD KEEP

Old English cēpan to observe; compare Old Saxon kapōn to look, Old Norse kōpa to stare.

Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.

PRONUNCIATION OF KEEP

keep  [kiːp]

GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF KEEP

Keep is a verb and can also act as a noun.

A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

The verb is the part of the sentence that is conjugated and expresses action and state of being.

See the conjugation of the verb keep in English.

WHAT DOES KEEP MEAN IN ENGLISH?

Keep

A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word keep, but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residences, used as a refuge of last resort should the rest of the castle fall to an adversary. The first keeps were made of timber and formed a key part of the motte and bailey castles that emerged in Normandy and Anjou during the 10th century; the design spread to England as a result of the Norman invasion of 1066, and in turn spread into Wales during the second half of the 11th century and into Ireland in the 1170s. The Anglo-Normans and French rulers began to build stone keeps during the 10th and 11th centuries; these included Norman keeps, with a square or rectangular design, and circular shell keeps. Stone keeps carried considerable political as well as military importance and could take up to a decade to build. During the 12th century new designs began to be introduced – in France, quatrefoil-shaped keeps were introduced, while in England polygonal towers were built.

Definition of keep in the English dictionary

The first definition of keep in the dictionary is to have or retain possession of. Other definition of keep is to have temporary possession or charge of. Keep is also to store in a customary place.

CONJUGATION OF THE VERB TO KEEP

PRESENT

Present

I keep

you keep

he/she/it keeps

we keep

you keep

they keep

Present continuous

I am keeping

you are keeping

he/she/it is keeping

we are keeping

you are keeping

they are keeping

Present perfect

I have kept

you have kept

he/she/it has kept

we have kept

you have kept

they have kept

Present perfect continuous

I have been keeping

you have been keeping

he/she/it has been keeping

we have been keeping

you have been keeping

they have been keeping

Present tense is used to refer to circumstances that exist at the present time or over a period that includes the present time. The present perfect refers to past events, although it can be considered to denote primarily the resulting present situation rather than the events themselves.

PAST

Past

I kept

you kept

he/she/it kept

we kept

you kept

they kept

Past continuous

I was keeping

you were keeping

he/she/it was keeping

we were keeping

you were keeping

they were keeping

Past perfect

I had kept

you had kept

he/she/it had kept

we had kept

you had kept

they had kept

Past perfect continuous

I had been keeping

you had been keeping

he/she/it had been keeping

we had been keeping

you had been keeping

they had been keeping

Past tense forms express circumstances existing at some time in the past,

FUTURE

Future

I will keep

you will keep

he/she/it will keep

we will keep

you will keep

they will keep

Future continuous

I will be keeping

you will be keeping

he/she/it will be keeping

we will be keeping

you will be keeping

they will be keeping

Future perfect

I will have kept

you will have kept

he/she/it will have kept

we will have kept

you will have kept

they will have kept

Future perfect continuous

I will have been keeping

you will have been keeping

he/she/it will have been keeping

we will have been keeping

you will have been keeping

they will have been keeping

The future is used to express circumstances that will occur at a later time.

CONDITIONAL

Conditional

I would keep

you would keep

he/she/it would keep

we would keep

you would keep

they would keep

Conditional continuous

I would be keeping

you would be keeping

he/she/it would be keeping

we would be keeping

you would be keeping

they would be keeping

Conditional perfect

I would have keep

you would have keep

he/she/it would have keep

we would have keep

you would have keep

they would have keep

Conditional perfect continuous

I would have been keeping

you would have been keeping

he/she/it would have been keeping

we would have been keeping

you would have been keeping

they would have been keeping

Conditional or "future-in-the-past" tense refers to hypothetical or possible actions.

IMPERATIVE

Imperative

you keep
we let´s keep
you keep

The imperative is used to form commands or requests.

NONFINITE VERB FORMS

Infinitive

to keep

Past participle

kept

Present Participle

keeping

Infinitive shows the action beyond temporal perspective. The present participle or gerund shows the action during the session. The past participle shows the action after completion.

SYNONYMS OF «KEEP»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «keep» and belong to the same grammatical category.

synonyms of keep

acknowledge · administer · amass · arrest · block · board · breed · bring up · carry · carry on · carry out · castle · celebrate · check · cherish · chronicle · citadel · commemorate · conserve · constrain · continue · curb · delay · deposit · detain · deter · direct · document · donjon · dungeon · embrace · execute · farm · fastness · feed · finance · follow · food · foster · fulfil · fund · go on · govern · hamper · hamstring · handle · hang with · have · heap · heed · hinder · hold · hold back · honour · house · impede · inhibit · kai · keep back · limit · livelihood · living · log · look after · maintain · maintenance · manage · mark · means · mind · nourish · nourishment · nurture · obey · observe · obstruct · oversee · own · perform · pile · place · preserve · prevent · put · raise · rear · recognize · record · remain · report · respect · restrain · retain · retard · ritualize · rule · run · safeguard · save · sell · set back · set down · shackle · shelter · solemnize · stack · stall · stay · stock · stop · store · stow · stronghold · subsidize · subsistence · superintend · supervise · supply · support · sustain · sustenance · take care of · take down · tend · tower · upkeep · withhold · write

TRANSLATION OF KEEP

Find out the translation of keep to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.

The translations of keep from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «keep» in English.

• Translator English - Chinese: 保持
• Translator English - Spanish: guardar
• English: keep
• Translator English - Hindi: रखना
• Translator English - Arabic: يَبْقَى
• Translator English - Russian: сохранять
• Translator English - Portuguese: guardar
• Translator English - Bengali: রাখা
• Translator English - French: garder
• Translator English - Malay: Teruskan
• Translator English - German: behalten
• Translator English - Japanese: 持ち続ける
• Translator English - Korean: 유지하다
• Translator English - Javanese: Njaga
• Translator English - Vietnamese: giữ
• Translator English - Tamil: வை
• Translator English - Marathi: ठेवा
• Translator English - Turkish: tutmak
• Translator English - Italian: tenere
• Translator English - Polish: zatrzymywać
• Translator English - Ukrainian: залишатися
• Translator English - Romanian: a menține
• Translator English - Greek: διατηρώ
• Translator English - Afrikaans: hou
• Translator English - Swedish: behålla
• Translator English - Norwegian: beholde

10 QUOTES WITH «KEEP»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word keep.

1

Barkhad Abdi

I just want to keep acting and better my craft and see how far it goes.

2

Ansel Adams

I tried to keep both arts alive, but the camera won. I found that while the camera does not express the soul, perhaps a photograph can!

3

Dianna Agron

Keep going on hikes, keep having your friends in your life, keep that downtime sacred as well because as hard as you work in any job, it's really nice to have the relaxing de-stressors. Stress is the worst thing. That's the ultimate demise of any good thing.

4

Stephen Ambrose

Eisenhower had the clearest blue eyes. He would fix them on you. In my every interview with him, he would lock his eyes on to mine and keep them there.

5

Judy Biggert

No one ever said that fighting the war against terrorism and defending our homeland would be easy. So let's support our troops, law enforcement workers, and our mission to keep our nation and our children safe in the days and years to come.

6

Ty Burrell

A lot of modern comedies are difficult to watch too, because they're so ironic and so detached and so quote-unquote clever. They kind of keep you at arm's length. They can be really funny, but they're not really nourishing.

7

Kimberly Caldwell

I take all of my life lessons, which some people might call 'mistakes,' and apply them to my future so that I keep growing.

8

Anna Chlumsky

Right now I'm just thinking about school and trying to get those grades and keep them up! In case I become a Norma Desmond when I grow up, I can have something to fall back on!

9

Gwendoline Christie

I don't really have any interest in playing the same part again and again. Let's just keep everything crossed that doesn't happen.

10

Emun Elliott

As an actor, you have to get used to being told no, develop a thick skin, and just keep persevering.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «KEEP»

Discover the use of keep in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to keep and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.

Promises I Can Keep: Why Poor Women Put Motherhood before ...

Promises I Can Keep offers an intimate look at what marriage and motherhood mean to these women and provides the most extensive on-the-ground study to date of why they put children before marriage despite the daunting challenges they know ...

Kathryn Edin, Maria Kefalas, 2011

If I Could Keep You Little...

If I could keep you little, I'd decide on matching clothes. But then I'd miss you choosing dots on top and stripes below If I could keep you little I'd cut your bread in shapes. But then I'd miss you finding "Hey!

‎2010

Keep Calm and Drink Up

Keep Calm and Drink Up features more than 100 proverbs and mantras from the likes of James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway, Rumi, Dave Barry, and Garrison Keillor, including: * There comes a time in every woman's life when the only thing that helps ...

Andrews McMeel Publishing, LLC, 2011

Dragon's Keep

Far away on Wilde Island, Princess Rosalind is born with a dragon claw where her ring finger should be.

Janet Lee Carey, 2008

Little Ways to Keep Calm and Carry On: Twenty Lessons for ...

The next time you are stressed by pressures at work, overwhelmed by life's challenges, or panicked by problems that seem unsolvable, reach for this book.

Mark Reinecke, 2010

Keep Climbing

Recounts a cancer survivor's inspirational life and climb of Mt. Everest, describing how he beat two types of cancer in his early teens and how he achieved a successful summit of Mt. Everest with only one lung.

Sean Swarner, 2007

The Company We Keep: An Ethics of Fiction

Ethical criticism will risk talking about the quality of this particular encounter with this particular work. Yet it will give up the old hope for definitive judgments of "good" work and "bad.

Wayne C. Booth, 1988

101 Ways to Get and Keep His Attention

From her survey of more than a hundred eligible men, noted relationship author Michelle McKinney Hammond paints a realistic picture of what really attracts men to women and what to do with his attention once you've got it.

Michelle McKinney Hammond, 2003

Promises to Keep: Technology, Law, and the Future of ...

"--Lawrence Lessig, Stanford Law School "The strength of this book is Fisher's willingness to step above the political fray to solve problems. He has produced one of the most important books in media studies and law in some years.

William W. Fisher, 2004

50 Powerful Ideas You Can Use to Keep Your Customers

This book will get all managers and employees thinking about the little things that can make all the difference.

Paul R. Timm, 2002

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «KEEP»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term keep is used in the context of the following news items.

Drones Keep Firefighters From Saving Burning Cars in California …

A wildfire tore through Southern California's Cajon Pass yesterday, crossing a freeway and engulfing a number of cars in its path. «PetaPixel, Jul 15»

One chart shows why it's nearly impossible to lose weight and keep …

In a given year, the average obese woman has roughly a 1 in 124 chance of returning to a normal weight. And for obese men, the odds are ... «Washington Post, Jul 15»

The Open Fans keep spirits high despite frustrating day at St. Andrews

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland -- From the moment the players were hauled off the course at 7.32am - a little more than half an hour after they started ... «ESPN, Jul 15»

Twitter, Facebook, Instragram the way to keep up on this year's …

1, fair aficionados can keep up with the daily goings on this year via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and Snapchat. "We're really moving ... «nwitimes.com, Jul 15»

Keep Springfield Beautiful lands $10,000 grant to plant new trees …

SPRINGFIELD- Keep America Beautiful has awarded its local affiliate Keep Springfield Beautiful with $10,000 to be used to plant over 30 new ... «MassLive.com, Jul 15»

A nervous city looks to keep the faith | jacksonville.com

Mark Zaleski Associated Press Heather Brame and her son, J.T., sign a poster Saturday by a makeshift memorial outside the Armed Forces ... «Florida Times-Union, Jul 15»

Volleyball player uses bicycle kick to keep rally alive at Pan Am …

Men's volleyball may not be the most popular sport in North America, but maybe it should be. Because what Canada's Steve Marshall did to ... «Washington Post, Jul 15»

80/35 flareup shows it's hard to keep festivals on time

The crowd was big, maybe the biggest the 80/35 Music Festival has had for a free stage. People were packed from the Kum & Go Stage on 10th ... «DesMoinesRegister.com, Jul 15»

As Kids Near College, Keep Watchful Eye on 529 Plans - NBC News

Investors aren't keen on surprises, especially when they're getting out their checkbooks to write a series of very large checks for their children's ... «NBCNews.com, Jul 15»

Camp Creek Threshers keep history alive at 39th annual event …

2015-07-18T18:30:00Z 2015-07-18T21:31:05Z Camp Creek Threshers keep history alive at 39th annual eventBy MARGARET REIST / Lincoln Journal Star ... «Lincoln Journal Star, Jul 15»