WordWeight : Weighing the Words

Pronunciation : Re*sign" (r-zn")
Part of Speech : v.
Etymology : [F. r?signer, L. resignare to unseal, annul, assign, resign; pref. re- re- + signare to seal, stamp. See Sign, and cf. Resignation.]
Definition : 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. -- 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.

t. [imp. & p. p. Resigned (-znd"); p. pr. & vb. n. Resigning.]
Source : Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913