Meanings
verbrelinquish (third-person singular simple present relinquishes, present participle relinquishing, simple past and past participle relinquished)
present singular third person relinquishes · participle present relinquishing · participle past relinquished · past relinquished
- transitiveTo give up, abandon or retire from something; to trade away.
relinquish power
5 more examples
to relinquish a title
to relinquish property
to relinquish rights
to relinquish citizenship or nationality
With this issue Mr. W. A. Willox regretfully relinquishes the editorship of THE RAILWAY MAGAZINE
1942 February, Railway Magazine, page 62 - transitiveTo metaphorically surrender, yield control or possession.
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.
2011, Tom Fordyce, “Rugby World Cup 2011: England 12-19 France”, in BBC Sport
Synonyms & antonyms
verbdo without or cease to hold or adhere to
Also see
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Proto-Italic*wre-
- Latinre-
- Proto-Indo-European*leykʷ-
- Proto-Indo-European*linékʷti
- Proto-Italic*linkʷō
- Latinlinquō
- Latinrelinquō
- Old Frenchrelenquir
- Middle Frenchrelinquir
- Middle Englishrelinquisshen
- Englishrelinquish
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”).
More words from Middle English, Middle French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian изпускам, отстъпвам
- изпускам (izpuskam)to let go, physically release
- отстъпвам (otstăpvam)to surrender, yield control or possession
- отказвам се (otkazvam se)to surrender, yield control or possession
- изоставям (izostavjam)to give up, abandon
- напускам (napuskam)to give up, abandon
- предавам се (predavam se)to accept to give up, withdraw etc.
Catalan relinquir, abandonar
- relinquirto give up, abandon
- abandonarto give up, abandon
- deixarto give up, abandon
- cedirto give up, abandon
- renunciar ato give up, abandon
- rendir-seto give up, abandon
- derelinquirto give up, abandon
Dutch loslaten, vrijlaten
- loslatento let go, physically release
- vrijlatento let go, physically release
- opgevento surrender, yield control or possession
- loslatento surrender, yield control or possession
- opgevento give up, abandon
- loslatento give up, abandon
- verzakento give up, abandon
- afstand doen vanto give up, abandon
- opgevento accept to give up, withdraw etc.
- loslatento accept to give up, withdraw etc.
- verzaken (ann)to accept to give up, withdraw etc.
Esperanto abandoni
- abandonito give up, abandon
Finnish luovuttaa, luopua
- luovuttaato let go, physically release
- luopuato let go, physically release
- luovuttaato give up, abandon
- luopuato give up, abandon
French lâcher, relâcher
- lâcherto let go, physically release
- relâcherto let go, physically release
- abandonnerto give up, abandon
- délaisserto give up, abandon
- céderto give up, abandon
- renoncer àto give up, abandon
- relinquirto give up, abandon
German abtreten, Verzicht leisten
- abtretento let go, physically release
- Verzicht leistento let go, physically release
- verzichtento let go, physically release
- aufgebento surrender, yield control or possession
- verlassento give up, abandon
- aufgebento give up, abandon
- überlassento give up, abandon
- aufgebento accept to give up, withdraw etc.
- abtretento accept to give up, withdraw etc.
Hungarian elenged, elereszt
- elengedto let go, physically release
- eleresztto let go, physically release
- kiengedto let go, physically release
- kiejtto let go, physically release
- átengedto surrender, yield control or possession
- lemondto give up, abandon
- feladto give up, abandon
- feladto accept to give up, withdraw etc.
Irish tabhair suas
- tabhair suasto give up, abandon
Italian rilasciare, lasciare andare
- rilasciareto let go, physically release
- lasciare andareto let go, physically release
- liberareto let go, physically release
- consegnarsito surrender, yield control or possession
- consegnareto surrender, yield control or possession
- cedereto surrender, yield control or possession
- abbandonareto give up, abandon
- lasciareto give up, abandon
- cedereto give up, abandon
- rinunciare ato give up, abandon
- relinquereto give up, abandon
- desistereto accept to give up, withdraw etc.
Japanese 放棄する
- 放棄する (houki suru)to give up, abandon
Korean 포기하다
- 포기하다 (pogihada)to give up, abandon
Latin relinquō
- relinquōto give up, abandon
Māori tuku
- tukuto give up, abandon
Norwegian å gi opp, gi opp
- å gi oppto surrender, yield control or possession
- gi oppto give up, abandon
Polish porzucać, porzucić
- porzucaćto let go, physically release
- porzucićto let go, physically release
- zwalniaćto let go, physically release
- zwolnićto let go, physically release
- uwalniaćto let go, physically release
- uwolnićto let go, physically release
- poddawaćto surrender, yield control or possession
- poddaćto surrender, yield control or possession
- porzucaćto give up, abandon
- porzucićto give up, abandon
- odstępowaćto accept to give up, withdraw etc.
- odstąpićto accept to give up, withdraw etc.
Portuguese soltar, abandonar
- soltarto let go, physically release
- abandonarto surrender, yield control or possession
- renunciar ato give up, abandon
- abandonarto give up, abandon
- deixarto give up, abandon
- cederto give up, abandon
- desistir deto give up, abandon
- relinquirto give up, abandon
- desistir deto accept to give up, withdraw etc.
Romanian lepăda
- lepădato give up, abandon
Russian отпускать, сдавать
- отпускать (otpuskatʹ)to let go, physically release
- сдавать (sdavatʹ)to surrender, yield control or possession
- уступить (ustupitʹ)to surrender, yield control or possession
- оставлять (ostavljatʹ)to give up, abandon
- отказываться (otkazyvatʹsja)to give up, abandon
Slovak odstúpiť, odstúpiť
- odstúpiťto surrender, yield control or possession
- odstúpiťto give up, abandon
Spanish soltar, dimitir de
- soltarto let go, physically release
- dimitir deto give up, abandon
- derrelinquirto give up, abandon
- derelinquirto give up, abandon
- desistir deto accept to give up, withdraw etc.
Thai สละ
- สละ (sà-là)to give up, abandon
Turkish bırakmak, terk etmek
- bırakmakto let go, physically release
- terk etmekto surrender, yield control or possession
- vazgeçmekto surrender, yield control or possession
- bırakmakto give up, abandon
- el çekmekto give up, abandon
- elini çekmekto give up, abandon
- vazgeçmekto give up, abandon
- feragat etmekto give up, abandon
- terk etmekto accept to give up, withdraw etc.
- vazgeçmekto accept to give up, withdraw etc.
Cite this entry
APA
relinquish. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/relinquish
MLA
“relinquish.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/relinquish. Accessed November 2, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “relinquish,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/relinquish.
Source: relinquish on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.