relent

English

Etymology

From Middle English relenten, from Anglo-Norman relentir, from Latin re- + lentare (“to bend”), from lentus (“soft, pliant, slow”). Earliest recording dates to 1526.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈlɛnt/
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

• Audio (UK):

  (file)

Noun

relent (plural relents)

1. Stay; stop; delay.
   • 2015, Mel Parsons (lyrics and music), “First Sign of Trouble”:

     There was no relent, my dear, as we pulled each other in.

   • 2016, Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad, Fleet (2017), page 193:

     The pistons of this engine moved without relent.

   • 1596, Edmund Spenser, “Book V, Canto VII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     She forward went […]
     Ne rested till she came without relent
     Unto the land of Amazons.

2. (obsolete) A relenting.

Derived terms

• relentless

Translations

stop, delay

• Dutch: verblijf (nl) n, oponthoud (nl) n
• Finnish: viivästys (fi), pysähdys (fi)
• French: se retirer (fr)

Verb

relent (third-person singular simple present relents, present participle relenting, simple past and past participle relented)

1. (intransitive) To give in or be swayed; to become less hard, harsh, or cruel; to show clemency.

   He had planned to ground his son for a month, but relented and decided to give him a stern lecture instead.

   • 1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

     Can you, my Lord of Winchester, behold
     My sighs and tears and will not once relent?

   • 1905, Lord Dunsany [i.e., Edward Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany], The Gods of Pegāna, London: [Charles] Elkin Mathews, […], →OCLC:

     Only the valley where Sish rested when he and Time were young did Sish not provoke his hours to assail. There he restrained his old hound Time […] For the minds of the gods relent towards their earliest memories, who relent not otherwise at all.

   • 1989, Kazuo Ishiguro, The Remains of the Day:

     I did, I suppose, hope that she might finally relent a little and make some conciliatory response or other.

2. (intransitive) To slacken; to abate.

   We waited for the storm to relent before we ventured outside.

   He will not relent in his effort to reclaim his victory.

3. (obsolete, transitive) To lessen, make less severe or intense.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IV”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     But nothing might relent her hastie flight; / So deepe the deadly feare of that foule swaine / Was earst impressed in her gentle spright […]

4. (dated, intransitive, of substance) To become less rigid or hard; to soften; to yield, for example by dissolving or melting
   • 1669, Robert Boyle, The History of Fluidity and Firmness:

     [Salt of tartar] placed in a cellar will […] begin to relent.

   • 1717, Alexander Pope, “Eloisa to Abelard”, in The Works of Mr. Alexander Pope, volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: […] W[illiam] Bowyer, for Bernard Lintot, […], published 1717, →OCLC:

     When opening buds salute the welcome day, / And earth, relenting, feels the genial ray.

Translations

become less severe, give in

• Bulgarian: омилостивявам се (omilostivjavam se)
• Czech: smilovat se, obměkčit se, slitovat se
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} milder worden , milderen (nl), verzachten (nl)
• Finnish: lauhtua (fi), leppyä (fi)
• German: nachgeben (de)
• Italian: cedere (it)
• Maori: whakangāwari, māriri
• Persian: نرم شدن (narm šodan)
• Romanian: a se înmuia (ro)
• Russian: смягча́ться (ru) (smjaxčátʹsja)
• Spanish: ceder (es)

slacken, abate

• Bulgarian: стихвам (bg) (stihvam)
• Czech: ochabnout
• Dutch: verslappen (nl)
• Finnish: laantua (fi)
• German: nachlassen (de)
• Italian: placare (it)
• Maori: whakangoru, māwhe, tāngangao
• Spanish: ceder (es)

become less rigid, yield

• Bulgarian: омеквам (bg) (omekvam)
• Czech: změknout, povolit (cs)
• Dutch: verzachten (nl), ^{(please verify)} zachter worden , oplossen (nl), smelten (nl), meegeven (nl), ontspannen (nl)
• Finnish: pehmetä (fi), taipua (fi)
• German: nachgeben (de)
• Maori: whakangāwari, ngawhere, hauraro

Adjective

relent (comparative more relent, superlative most relent)

1. (obsolete) softhearted; yielding

French

Etymology

From re- +‎ lent (“slow”), in the sense “lingering”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁə.lɑ̃/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

relent m (plural relents)

1. lingering smell (usually bad); stench
2. (figuratively) overtone

Further reading

• “relent”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Middle English

Verb

relent

1. Alternative form of relenten