relinquish
/ɹɪˈlɪŋkwɪʃ/
"relinquish" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“relinquish” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #24,882 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #24,882
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 15
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To give up, abandon or retire from something; to trade away.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | relinquish |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɹɪˈlɪŋkwɪʃ/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #24,882 |
| Misspellings tracked | 15 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “relinquish” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for relinquish is 10 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹɪˈlɪŋkwɪʃ/. Corpus data places it at rank #24,882 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for relinquish, with forms such as "erlinquish", "reilnquish", and "relinnquish". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: 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”). The correct English form is relinquish, spelled R-E-L-I-N-Q-U-I-S-H.
Definition
- 1To give up, abandon or retire from something; to trade away.
- 2To let go (free, away), physically release.
- 3To metaphorically surrender, yield control or possession.
- 4To accept to give up, withdraw etc.
Etymology
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”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: erlinquish,reilnquish,relinnquish,relinqiush,relinqquish,relinquihs,relinquishh,relinquissh,relinqusih,relinuqish,reliqnuish,rellinquish,relniquish,rleinquish,rrelinquish
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of relinquish - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "relinquish"?
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Using “relinquish”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-L-I-N-Q-U-I-S-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɹɪˈlɪŋkwɪʃ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.