Meanings
plural resignations
- countableuncountableThe act of resigning.
Jane tendered her resignation to the board of directors, but they refused.
2 more examples
I knew my Cabinet well, and despite Haig's reports that they were all holding firm I knew that there would be great pressure on them all, and great temptations, to make public demands for my resignation. That was something I had to prevent if I possibly could. I was determined not to appear to have resigned the presidency because of a consensus of staff or Cabinet opinion or because of public pressure from the people around me. For me and no less for the country, I believed that my resignation had to be seen as something that I had decided upon completely on my own.
1978, Richard Nixon, “The Presidency 1973–1974”, in RN: the Memoirs of Richard Nixon, Grosset & Dunlap, →ISBN, →LCCN, →OCLC, →OL, page 1064David Cameron tries to deal with things with humour when they’re the most difficult, and [the next morning]^([sic]) he walked into the office where we’d been drafting a resignation statement for him, and he said: “Well, that didn’t go well, did it?”
2026 June 23, Craig Oliver, quotee, “‘Geldof started flicking Vs at Farage’: the story of the Brexit campaign, told by those with a front-row seat”, in The Guardian, →ISSN - countableuncountableAn uncomplaining acceptance of something undesirable but unavoidable.
With resignation I acknowledged that after the accident I would not be able to ski again.
Synonyms & antonyms
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Medieval Latinresignātiōnem
- Old Frenchresignation
- Middle Englishresignacion
- Englishresignation
From Middle English resignacion, resignacioun, from Old French resignation, from Medieval Latin resignātiōnem, accusative of resignātio. Equivalent to resign + -ation.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic اِسْتِقَالَة, اِسْتِعْفَاء
- اِسْتِقَالَة (istiqāla)act of resigning
- اِسْتِعْفَاء (istiʕfāʔ)act of resigning
Bulgarian оста́вка, оста́вка
- оста́вка (ostávka)act of resigning
- оста́вка (ostávka)declaration that one resigns
- примире́ние (primirénie)state of uncomplaining acceptance
Catalan dimissió
- dimissióact of resigning
Chinese Cantonese 劈炮
- 劈炮 (pek³ paau³)act of resigning
Chinese Mandarin 辭職 /辞职, 辭呈 /辞呈
- 辭職 /辞职 (cízhí)act of resigning
- 辭呈 /辞呈 (cíchéng)declaration that one resigns
- 辭職書 /辞职书 (cízhíshū)declaration that one resigns
Czech rezignace
- rezignaceact of resigning
Danish fratræden, fratrædelse
- fratrædenact of resigning
- fratrædelseact of resigning
Dutch aftreding, gelatenheid
- aftredingact of resigning
- gelatenheidstate of uncomplaining acceptance
Esperanto abdiko, demisio
- abdikoact of resigning
- demisioact of resigning
- eksiĝoact of resigning
- abdikodeclaration that one resigns
- demisiodeclaration that one resigns
- rezignaciostate of uncomplaining acceptance
Estonian lahkumispalve, lahkumisavaldus
- lahkumispalveact of resigning
- lahkumisavaldusact of resigning
Finnish irtisanoutuminen, ero
- irtisanoutuminenact of resigning
- eroact of resigning
- eroanomusdeclaration that one resigns
- alistuminenstate of uncomplaining acceptance
French démission, démission
- démissionact of resigning
- démissiondeclaration that one resigns
- résignationstate of uncomplaining acceptance
German Rücktritt, Niederlegung
- Rücktrittact of resigning
- Niederlegungact of resigning
- Kündigungact of resigning
- Rücktrittserklärungdeclaration that one resigns
- Resignationstate of uncomplaining acceptance
Greek παραίτηση, παραίτηση
- παραίτηση (paraítisi)act of resigning
- παραίτηση (paraítisi)declaration that one resigns
- εγκαρτέρηση (egkartérisi)state of uncomplaining acceptance
Hindi इस्तीफ़ा
- इस्तीफ़ा (istīfā)act of resigning
Hungarian lemondás, lemondás
- lemondásact of resigning
- lemondásdeclaration that one resigns
- belenyugvásstate of uncomplaining acceptance
- beletörődésstate of uncomplaining acceptance
- rezignációstate of uncomplaining acceptance
Icelandic uppsögn, uppsagnarbréf
- uppsögnact of resigning
- uppsagnarbréfdeclaration that one resigns
- tilkynning um uppsögndeclaration that one resigns
Indonesian pengunduran diri
- pengunduran diriact of resigning
Italian dimissioni, uscita
- dimissioniact of resigning
- uscitaact of resigning
- fuoriuscitaact of resigning
- rassegnazionestate of uncomplaining acceptance
Japanese 辞任, 辞職
- 辞任 (jinin)act of resigning
- 辞職 (jishoku)act of resigning
- 辞表 (jihyō)declaration that one resigns
Korean 사임, 사직
- 사임 (saim)act of resigning
- 사직 (sajik)act of resigning
- 사임 (saim)declaration that one resigns
Latin abdicātiō
- abdicātiōact of resigning
Latvian atkāpšanās, demisija
- atkāpšanāsact of resigning
- demisijaact of resigning
Lithuanian atsistatydinimas, dimisija
- atsistatydinimasact of resigning
- dimisijaact of resigning
Malay perletakan jawatan
- perletakan jawatanact of resigning
Māori rihainatanga, rīhainatanga
- rihainatangaact of resigning
- rīhainatangaact of resigning
Norwegian Bokmål oppsigelse
- oppsigelseact of resigning
Polish rezygnacja, dymisja
- rezygnacjaact of resigning
- dymisjaact of resigning
- rezygnacjadeclaration that one resigns
- rezygnacjastate of uncomplaining acceptance
Portuguese demissão, resignação
- demissãoact of resigning
- resignaçãostate of uncomplaining acceptance
Romanian demisie
- demisieact of resigning
Russian отста́вка, ухо́д
- отста́вка (otstávka)act of resigning
- ухо́д (uxód)act of resigning
- заявле́ние (zajavlénije)declaration that one resigns
- смире́ние (smirénije)state of uncomplaining acceptance
Scottish Gaelic toirt suas
- toirt suasact of resigning
Slovak rezignácia, rezignácia
- rezignáciaact of resigning
- rezignáciadeclaration that one resigns
- odstúpeniedeclaration that one resigns
- demisiadeclaration that one resigns
- rezignáciastate of uncomplaining acceptance
Spanish dimisión, renuncia
- dimisiónact of resigning
- renunciaact of resigning
- renunciadeclaration that one resigns
- resignaciónstate of uncomplaining acceptance
Swahili mucsidjr
- mucsidjrstate of uncomplaining acceptance
Swedish avgång
- avgångact of resigning
Turkish istifa
- istifaact of resigning
Ukrainian відста́вка, зая́ва
- відста́вка (vidstávka)act of resigning
- зая́ва (zajáva)declaration that one resigns
Urdu اِسْتِعْفا
- اِسْتِعْفا (isti'fā)act of resigning
Vietnamese từ chức
- từ chứcact of resigning
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with resignation
Cite this entry
resignation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/resignation
“resignation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/resignation. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “resignation,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/resignation.
Source: resignation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.