retirement

From French retirement, from retirer (“withdraw, retire”); corresponding to retire +‎ -ment.

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ɹəˈtaɪə(ɹ).mənt/

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

retirement (countable and uncountable, plural retirements)

1. An act of retiring; withdrawal. [from 16th c.]
2. (uncountable) The state of being retired; seclusion. [from 17th c.]
   • 1890, James George Frazer, The Golden Bough, volume 2, page 224:

     The heir to the throne of Bogota […] had to undergo a rigorous training from his infancy: he lived in complete retirement in a temple, where he might not see the sun nor eat salt nor converse with a woman: he was surrounded by guards who observed his conduct and noted all his actions.

3. (now rare) A place of seclusion or privacy; a retreat. [from 17th c.]
   • 1788, Mary Wollstonecraft, Mary: A Fiction‎:

     When her mother frowned, and her friend looked cool, she would steal to this retirement, where human foot seldom trod […] .

4. The state of having permanently left one's employment, now especially at reaching pensionable age; the portion of one's life after retiring from one's career. [from 17th c.]
   • 2021 November 3, Adrian Shooter talks to Paul Clifton, “A lifetime of railway achievements”, in RAIL, number 943, page 34:

     "I tried retirement ten years ago. Didn't think much of it. Complete waste of time. So I gave it up after two weeks."

5. The act of leaving one's career or employment permanently. [from 17th c.]
   • 2012, Chelsea 6-0 Wolves‎:

     The Chelsea captain was a virtual spectator as he was treated to his side's biggest win for almost two years as Stamford Bridge serenaded him with chants of "there's only one England captain," some 48 hours after he announced his retirement from international football.

• (act of retiring): departure, withdrawment
• (state of being retired): privacy, seclusion, solitude
• (place of seclusion or privacy): retreat

• retire