relinquish

English

Etymology

From Middle English relinquisshen, from the inflected stem relinquiss- of Middle French relinquir, from Latin relinquere, itself from re- + linquere (“to leave”). Compare also Sanskrit रिणक्ति (riṇakti, “to leave”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈlɪŋkwɪʃ/
Audio (Mid-Atlantic US): (file)

Verb

relinquish (third-person singular simple present relinquishes, present participle relinquishing, simple past and past participle relinquished)

(transitive) To give up, abandon or retire from something; to trade away.
to relinquish a title

to relinquish property

to relinquish rights

to relinquish citizenship or nationality

relinquish power
- 1942 February, Railway Magazine, page 62:
  With this issue Mr. W. A. Willox regretfully relinquishes the editorship of THE RAILWAY MAGAZINE
(transitive) To let go (free, away), physically release.
(transitive) To metaphorically surrender, yield control or possession.
- 2011, Tom Fordyce, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 12-19 France”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:
  But it was the most fleeting of false dawns. Dmitri Yachvilli slotted a penalty from distance after Flood failed to release his man on the deck, and France took a grip they would never relinquish.
(transitive) To accept to give up, withdraw etc.
The delegations saved the negotiations by relinquishing their incompatible claims to sole jurisdiction.

Derived terms

relinquishment

Related terms

Translations

to give up, abandon

Bulgarian: изоставям (bg) (izostavjam), напускам (bg) (napuskam)
Dutch: opgeven (nl), loslaten (nl), verzaken (nl), afstand doen van
Esperanto: abandoni (eo)
Finnish: luovuttaa (fi), luopua (fi)
French: abandonner (fr), renoncer (fr)
German: verlassen (de), aufgeben (de), überlassen (de)
Hungarian: lemond (hu), felad (hu)
Irish: tabhair suas
Italian: abbandonare (it), rinunciare (it)
Korean: 포기하다 (ko) (pogihada)
Latin: relinquō
Maori: tuku
Norwegian: gi opp (no)
Ottoman Turkish: براقمق (bırakmak)
Polish: porzucać (pl) impf
Portuguese: renunciar a, abandonar (pt), desistir de
Romanian: lepăda (ro)
Russian: оставлять (ru) (ostavljatʹ), отказываться (ru) (otkazyvatʹsja), покидать (ru) impf (pokidatʹ) (about a place, both lit. and fig.)
Sanskrit: रिणक्ति (sa) (riṇakti)
Serbo-Croatian: prepustiti (sh), odstupiti (sh)
Slovak: odstúpiť
Spanish: abandonar (es), renunciar (es)
Turkish: bırakmak (tr), el çekmek (tr), elini çekmek, vazgeçmek (tr), feragat etmek (tr)

to let go, physically release

Bulgarian: изпускам (bg) (izpuskam)
Dutch: loslaten (nl), vrijlaten (nl)
Finnish: luovuttaa (fi), luopua (fi)
French: lâcher (fr), relâcher (fr)
German: abtreten (de), Verzicht leisten f, verzichten (de)
Hungarian: elenged (hu), elereszt (hu), kienged (hu), kiejt (hu)
Italian: rilasciare (it), lasciare andare, liberare (it)
Ottoman Turkish: براقمق (bırakmak)
Polish: porzucać (pl) impf, zwalniać (pl) impf
Portuguese: soltar (pt)
Russian: отпускать (ru) (otpuskatʹ)
Spanish: soltar (es)
Turkish: bırakmak (tr)

to surrender, yield control or possession

Bulgarian: отстъпвам (bg) (otstǎpvam), отказвам се (otkazvam se)
Dutch: opgeven (nl), loslaten (nl)
German: aufgeben (de)
Hungarian: átenged (hu)
Italian: consegnarsi (it), consegnare (it), cedere (it)
Norwegian: å gi opp
Polish: poddawać (pl) impf
Portuguese: abandonar (pt)
Russian: сдавать (ru) (sdavatʹ), уступить (ru) pf (ustupitʹ)
Serbo-Croatian: odstupiti (sh), ustupiti (sh), prepustiti (sh)
Slovak: odstúpiť
Turkish: (Ottoman) terk etmek (tr), vazgeçmek (tr)

to accept to give up, withdraw etc.

Dutch: opgeven (nl), loslaten (nl), verzaken (ann)
German: aufgeben (de), abtreten (de)
Hungarian: felad (hu)
Italian: desistere (it), ritirarsi (it), ritirare (it)
Portuguese: desistir de
Spanish: desistir (es)
Turkish: (Ottoman) terk etmek (tr), vazgeçmek (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

French: , ^{(please verify)} laisser (fr)
Turkish: ^{(please verify)} bırakmak (tr), ^{(please verify)} terk etmek (tr), ^{(please verify)} vazgeçmek (tr)