keep

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keep pt., pp. kept
A. †seize, hold, watch (for); pay regard to, observe OE.;

B. take care of, guard XII; preserve, maintain; withhold, restrain XIV;

C. reside, dwell (in) XIV. Late OE. cēpan, pt. cēpte, of which no cogns. are known. Its sense-development has been infl. by its being used to render L. servare, with its comps. con-, ob-, præ-, reservare.

Hence sb. A. †care, heed; B. donjon of a castle XIII; C. act of keeping, being kept XVIII; sustenance XIX. (The origin of B is not certain.) keepsake thing kept for the SAKE of the giver XVIII; literary annual containing collections of tales, poems, etc., intended as a gift, common in early XIX.

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