onhold

The story

1. Old English · inherited fromonhealdan
2. Middle English · inherited fromanhealden“to retain”
3. English todayonhold

From Middle English anhealden (“to retain”), from Old English onhealdan, anhealdan (“to hold, keep”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian anhoolde (“to stop, persist”), West Frisian oanhâlde (“to apprehend, arrest, detain”), Dutch aanhouden (“to persist, continue, retain”) and onthouden (“to withhold, retain”), German anhalten (“to stop, last, persist”) and enthalten (“to contain, include”). By surface analysis, on- + hold.