relinquish
/ɹɪˈlɪŋkwɪʃ/verb
relinquish is spelled R-E-L-I-N-Q-U-I-S-H: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,745th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, relinquish means “To give up, abandon or retire from something; to trade away” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in relinquish?
| Letters | 10: R-E-L-I-N-Q-U-I-S-H |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.3 times per million words; the 24,745th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is relinquish?
Relinquish appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,745th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce relinquish?
- /ɹɪˈlɪŋkwɪʃ/
Relinquish has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-relinquish.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of relinquish
- relinquishes present, singular, he/she/it
- relinquishing participle, present
- relinquished participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does relinquish mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To give up, abandon or retire from something; to trade away.
to relinquish a title
- 2
To let go (free, away), physically release.
- 3
To metaphorically surrender, yield control or possession.
- 4
To accept to give up, withdraw etc.
The delegations saved the negotiations by relinquishing their incompatible claims to sole jurisdiction.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Relinquish in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | abandonner, délaisser, céder, renoncer à, relinquir , lâcher |
| German | verlassen, aufgeben, überlassen , abtreten, Verzicht leisten, verzichten |
| Portuguese | renunciar a, abandonar, deixar, ceder, desistir de, relinquir |
| Spanish | dimitir de, derrelinquir, derelinquir , soltar , desistir de |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does relinquish come from?
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”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).