Relinquish

//ɹɪˈlɪŋkwɪʃ// verb

verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To give up, abandon or retire from something; to trade away. transitive

    "to relinquish a title"

  2. 2
    release, as from one's grip wordnet
  3. 3
    To let go (free, away), physically release. transitive
  4. 4
    turn away from; give up wordnet
  5. 5
    To metaphorically surrender, yield control or possession. transitive

    "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."

Show 3 more definitions
  1. 6
    part with a possession or right wordnet
  2. 7
    To accept to give up, withdraw etc. transitive

    "The delegations saved the negotiations by relinquishing their incompatible claims to sole jurisdiction."

  3. 8
    do without or cease to hold or adhere to wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
forgogive upleavequitreleasesurrender

Example

More examples

"I would rather die than relinquish my virginity before marriage."

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”).

Related phrases

give uplet gotrade away

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.