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Webster 1913 Edition

Resign

Re-sign′

(r?-z?n′)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Resigned
(-z?nd′)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Resigning
.]
[F.
résigner
, 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.
Shakespeare
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
.

Webster 1828 Edition

Resign

RESIGN

,
Verb.
T.
rezi'ne. [L. resigno; re and signo, to sign. The radical sense of sign is to send, to drive, hence to set. To resign is to send, to drive, hence to set. To resign is to send back or send away.]
1.
To give up; to give back, as an office or commission, to the person or authority that conferred it; hence, to surrender an office or charge in a formal manner; as, a military officer resigns his commission; a prince resigns his crown.
Phoebus resigns his darts, and Jove his thunder, to the god of love.
2.
To withdraw, as a claim. He resigns all pretensions to skill.
3.
To yield; as, to resign the judgment to the direction of others.
4.
To yield or give up in confidence.
What more reasonable, than that we should in all things resign ourselves to the will of God?
5.
To submit, particularly to Providence.
A firm, yet cautious mind; sincere, though prudent; constant, yet resign'd.
6.
To submit without resistance or murmur.

Definition 2024

resign

resign

See also: re-sign

English

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /ɹɪˈzʌɪn/
  • Rhymes: -aɪn

Verb

resign ‎(third-person singular simple present resigns, present participle resigning, simple past and past participle resigned)

  1. (transitive) To give up or hand over (something to someone); to relinquish ownership of. [from 14th c.]
  2. (transitive or intransitive) To quit (a job or position). [from 14th c.]
    I am resigning in protest of the unfair treatment of our employees.
    He resigned the crown to follow his heart.
  3. (transitive or intransitive) To submit passively; to give up as hopeless or inevitable. [from 15th c.]
    After fighting for so long, she finally resigned to her death.
    He had no choice but to resign the game and let his opponent become the champion.
    • 1996, Robin Buss, The Count of Monte Cristo, translation of, Alexandre Dumas, Le Comte de Monte-Cristo, 2003 Penguin edition, ISBN 0140449264, page 394 :
      Here is a man who was resigned to his fate, who was walking to the scaffold and about to die like a coward, that's true, but at least he was about to die without resisting and without recrimination. Do you know what gave him that much strength? Do you know what consoled him? Do you know what resigned him to his fate?
Synonyms
Derived terms
Translations

Etymology 2

re- +‎ sign

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈɹiːˌsaɪn/

Verb

resign ‎(third-person singular simple present resigns, present participle resigning, simple past and past participle resigned)

  1. (proscribed) Alternative spelling of re-sign

Usage notes

The spelling without the hyphen results in a heteronym and is usually avoided.

Anagrams

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman resigner, Middle French resigner, and its source, Latin resignāre ‎(“to unseal, annul, assign, resign”), from re- + signāre ‎(“to seal, stamp”).

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