
verb (used with object)
- to renounce or surrender (a possession, right, etc.): to relinquish the throne.
- to give up; put aside or desist from: to relinquish a plan.
- to let go; release: to relinquish one’s hold.
verb (tr)
- to give up (a task, struggle, etc); abandon
- to surrender or renounce (a claim, right, etc)
- to release; let go
mid-15c., “desert, abandon;” late 15c., “give up, desist,” from Old French relinquiss-, present participle stem of relinquir (12c.), from Latin relinquere “leave behind, forsake, abandon, give up,” from re- “back” (see re-) + linquere “to leave,” from PIE *linkw-, from root *leikw- “to leave behind” (cf. Sanskrit reknas “inheritance, wealth,” rinakti “leaves;” Greek leipein “to leave;” Gothic leihvan, Old English lænan “to lend;” Old High German lihan “to borrow;” Old Norse lan “loan”). Related: Relinquished; relinquishing.