relinquish

relinquish, yield, leave, resign, surrender, cede, abandon, waive are comparable when they mean to let go from one's control or possession or to give up completely.

Relinquish in itself seldom carries any added implication, but it often acquires color from the words with which it is associated or from the character of the thing given up

{

disinclined to relinquish his command

}

{

relinquished his grasp only after a struggle

}

{

he had let something go ... something very precious, that he could not consciously have relinquished— Cather

}

Yield adds to relinquish the implication of concession or compliance; in some collocations it does not even suggest finality—a prevailing but not always necessary implication in the words of this group—but rather, a giving way as a favor, or as a sign of weakness, or as an indulgence

{

yield not thy neck to fortune's yoke, but let thy dauntless mind still ride in triumph over all mischance— Shak.

}

Leave is often used in place of relinquish but distinctively it can imply a forsaking

{

we have left all, and have followed thee— Mk 10:28

}

{

he has left me . . . quitted me! abandoned me!— Bennett

}

Like relinquish it can be strongly colored by context and may convey such dissimilar notions as a giving up or letting go that constitutes sacrifice

{

the opium eater who cannot leave his drug— Wolfe

}

or neglect

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by all ye leave or do, the silent, sullen peoples shall weight your Gods and you— Kipling

}

or concession

{

the constitution leaves them [the States] this right in the confidence that they will not abuse it— John Marshall

}

or even imposition upon others

{

she leaves most of the work to her sister

}

Resign emphasizes voluntary or deliberate sacrifice without struggle; it usually connotes either renunciation or acceptance of the inevitable

{

the ambition which incites a man to seize power seldom allows him to resign it— Times Lit. Sup.

}

{

in her face . . . was that same strange mingling of resigned despair and almost eager appeal— Galsworthy

}

Surrender distinctively implies the existence of external compulsion or demand; it commonly suggests submission after a struggle or after resistance or show of resistance

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when they saw all that was sacred to them laid waste, the Navaho . . . did not surrender; they simply ceased to fight— Cather

}

At times the implication of resistance is blurred and that of conscious sacrifice, as for a greater advantage, is heightened

{

surrender rights to a portion of an estate

}

Cede is nar-rower in its application than surrender; as a rule it suggests juridical pressure as expressed in a court decision, the findings of arbitrators, or the terms of a treaty, though it may suggest previous negotiation, and is used in reference to the transfer of lands, territory, or rights

{

the territory ceded by France, under the name of Louisiana— Taney

}

Abandon (see also ABANDON 1) stresses finality and completeness in relinquishment, especially of intangible things

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as hopes, opinions, methods, or schemes

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{

no, no; you stick to your prejudices, or at any rate don't abandon them on my account— Mackenzie

}

Waive, like yield, need not imply finality and often suggests a concession, but unlike yield and the other terms of this group, it seldom implies the compulsion of force or necessity. Its main implication is a refusal to insist on something (as a right, a claim, one's preference, one's immunity, or obedience to a rule, law, or convention) usually for the sake of courtesy, simplicity, or concentration on what is relatively more important

{

waive extradition proceedings

}

{

waive a jury trial

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{

he waived his right to be heard in his own defense

}

{

he waived the ceremony of introduction— Burney

}

{

if art can enthrall him, he is willing to waive all question of logic or rationality— Babbitt

}

Analogous words: *abdicate, renounce, resign: *abandon, desert, forsake: *forgo, forbear, abnegate, sacrifice: *discard, shed, cast

Antonyms: keep