"act or process of retrieving," 1640s, from retrieve + -al (2).
Entries linking to retrieval
retrieve v.
early 15c., retreven, "find or discover again," originally in reference to dogs finding lost game, from retruev-, stem of Old French retreuver (Modern French retrouver) "find again, recover, meet again, recognize," from re- "again" (see re-) + trouver "to find," probably from Vulgar Latin *tropare "to compose," from Greek tropos "a turn, way, manner" (from PIE root *trep- "to turn").
Altered 16c. to retrive; modern form is from mid-17c. Specifically, of a dog, "to find and bring to hand game wounded or killed by a sportsman" is by 1856. The mental sense of "recall, recover by effort of memory" is from 1640s; computer sense of "obtain (stored information) again" is by 1962.
-al 2
suffix forming nouns of action from verbs, mostly from Latin and French, meaning "act of ______ing" (such as survival, referral), Middle English -aille, from French feminine singular -aille, from Latin -alia, neuter plural of adjective suffix -alis, also used in English as a noun suffix. Nativized in English and used with Germanic verbs (as in bestowal, betrothal).