resignation

R1E1S1I1G2N1A1T1I1O1N1
Canada, UK, US/ˌɹɛz.ɪɡˈneɪ.ʃən/Australia/ˌɹez.ɪɡˈnæɪ.ʃən/New Zealand/ˌɹez.əɡˈnæɪ.ʃən/

noun

The act of resigning.

“hand in one's resignation”

Less commonScrabble 12

Meanings

nounresignation (countable and uncountable, plural resignations)

plural resignations

  1. 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 1064

    David 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
  2. countableuncountableA written or oral declaration that one resigns.

    hand in one's resignation

  3. countableuncountableAn uncomplaining acceptance of something undesirable but unavoidable.

    With resignation I acknowledged that after the accident I would not be able to ski again.

  4. countablehistoricaluncountableScots lawThe form by which a vassal returns the feu into the hands of a superior.

Synonyms & antonyms

Similar

nounacceptance of despair

Similar
Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Medieval Latinresignātiōnem
  2. Old Frenchresignation
  3. Middle Englishresignacion
  4. Englishresignation

From Middle English resignacion, resignacioun, from Old French resignation, from Medieval Latin resignātiōnem, accusative of resignātio. Equivalent to resign + -ation.

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

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

resignation. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/resignation

MLA

“resignation.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/resignation. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “resignation,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/resignation.

Source: resignation on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.