resignation

Resignation is the act of resigning—quitting one’s job or giving up one’s position.

In this context, it can also refer to the formal statement or document that announces a person’s intention to resign. This sense of the word is often used with the verb tender, meaning to formally offer or present, as in I’ve tendered my resignation, effective immediately. It can also be used as a modifier, as in resignation letter.

Resignation can also mean an accepting, unresisting attitude or state of submission, as in There is a sense of resignation in the room now that most of the votes are in and there doesn’t appear to be any path to victory. 

Example: Several senior officials have tendered their resignations, but it’s unclear whether they will be accepted.

The first records of the word resignation come from the 1300s. It is ultimately derived from the Latin verb resignāre, meaning “give up” or “unseal, invalidate, destroy.”

When used in the sense of leaving a position, resign is synonymous with quit, but the two words can imply different things. To say that someone quit their job often (though not always) implies that they left because they didn’t like something about it. Someone can resign due to negative circumstances, but the word itself doesn’t imply this without additional context. For example, a politician might resign due to a scandal, or an employee might resign to protest a policy they consider unethical. But resignation doesn’t always involve negative circumstances. A person might resign because they’re moving or they want to change their career.

Sometimes, people are given the option of resignation instead of being fired. This especially happens in governmental or political appointments. When an official offers their resignation in order to take responsibility for a failure or scandal, it’s possible that their boss might not accept it—meaning that they can keep their job or position.

When it’s used to refer to an attitude of acceptance, resignation typically implies that the person recognizes that there is nothing left to be done to improve the situation and is resigned to their fate.

What are some other forms related to resignation?

• resign (verb)

What are some synonyms for resignation?

• acquiescence

What are some words that share a root or word element with resignation? 

• resigned
• resignee
• signature

What are some words that often get used in discussing resignation?

• tender
• letter
• effective
• immediately
• sense
• quit
• position
• job
• office

Resignation is most commonly used in the context of quitting a job, especially in a public way.

oh today just gets better and better. Where does one tender one's resignation?

— Elizabeth Ammon (@legsidelizzy) January 20, 2010

A Pentagon official, Elaine McCusker, has submitted her resignation three months after the White House pulled her nomination to be the comptroller after she questioned the legality of the Trump administration's efforts to freeze military aid to Ukrainehttps://t.co/cHhPpg9Mbm

— POLITICO (@politico) June 17, 2020

Agree w/ this. The pervasive sense of resignation about the deaths of 100,000 Americans is astonishing. https://t.co/wmT5RWmx5E

— Binyamin Appelbaum (@BCAppelbaum) May 26, 2020

Is resignation used correctly in the following sentence?

Several employees are threatening resignation in protest of the new dress code.