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resign - 5 dictionary results

re-sign

  [ree-sahyn]
Use resign in a Sentence
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
1. to sign again.
2. to renew or extend a contract.
Origin:
1795–1805

re⋅sign

  [ri-zahyn]
–verb (used without object)
1. to give up an office or position, often formally (often fol. by from): to resign from the presidency.
2. to submit; yield: to resign before the inevitable.
–verb (used with object)
3. to give up (an office, position, etc.), often formally.
4. to relinquish (a right, claim, agreement, etc.).
5. to give or sign over, as to the control or care of another: She resigned her child to an adoption agency.
6. to submit (oneself, one's mind, etc.) without resistance.
Origin:
1325–75; ME resignen < MF resigner < L resignāre to open, release, cancel, equiv. to re- re- + signāre to mark, seal, sign

Synonyms:
1. withdraw. 3. abdicate, renounce; quit, leave. 4. give up, surrender, cede, forgo.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To resign
re·sign   (rĭ-zīn')   
v.   re·signed, re·sign·ing, re·signs

v.   tr.
  1. To submit (oneself) passively; accept as inevitable: I resigned myself to a long wait in line.
  2. To give up (a position, for example), especially by formal notification.
  3. To relinquish (a privilege, right, or claim). See Synonyms at relinquish.
v.   intr.
To give up one's job or office; quit, especially by formal notification: resign from a board of directors.

[Middle English resignen, from Old French resigner, from Latin resignāre, to unseal : re-, re- + signāre, to seal (from signum, mark, seal; see sekw-1 in Indo-European roots).]
re·sign'er n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Resign

Re*sign"\ (r?-z?n"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Resigned (-z?nd"); p. pr. & vb. n. Resigning.] [F. r['e]signer, L. resignare to unseal, annul, assign, resign; pref. re- re- + signare to seal, stamp. See Sign, and cf. Resignation.]

1. To sign back; to return by a formal act; to yield to another; to surrender; -- said especially of office or emolument. Hence, to give up; to yield; to submit; -- said of the wishes or will, or of something valued; -- also often used reflexively.

I here resign my government to thee. --Shak.

Lament not, Eve, but patiently resign What justly thou hast lost. --Milton.

What more reasonable, than that we should in all things resign up ourselves to the will of God? --Tiilotson.

2. To relinquish; to abandon.

He soon resigned his former suit. --Spenser.

3. To commit to the care of; to consign. [Obs.]

Gentlement of quality have been sent beyong the seas, resigned and concredited to the conduct of such as they call governors. --Evelyn.

Syn: To abdicate; surrender; submit; leave; relinquish; forego; quit; forsake; abandon; renounce.

Usage: Resign, Relinquish. To resign is to give up, as if breaking a seal and yielding all it had secured; hence, it marks a formal and deliberate surrender. To relinquish is less formal, but always implies abandonment and that the thing given up has been long an object of pursuit, and, usually, that it has been prized and desired. We resign what we once held or considered as our own, as an office, employment, etc. We speak of relinquishing a claim, of relinquishing some advantage we had sought or enjoyed, of relinquishing seme right, privilege, etc. "Men are weary with the toil which they bear, but can not find it in their hearts to relinquish it." --Steele. See Abdicate.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : resign
Spanish: dimitir,
German: aufgeben,
Japanese: 辞職する
More Translations »

resign 
c.1374, from O.Fr. resigner, from L. resignare "to check off, cancel, give up," from re- "opposite" + signare "to make an entry in an account book," lit. "to mark" (see sign). The sense is of making an entry (signum) "opposite" -- on the credit side -- balancing the former mark and thus canceling the claim it represents. The meaning of "give up a position" is first recorded 1387. Sense of "to give (oneself) up to some emotion or situation" is from 1718.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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