Emily Dickinson Lexicon

relay, n. [OFr relais, hounds or horses held in reserve < relayer, relay.]

1. Transmission; communication; act of passing a message along; system of receivers and transmitters used to convey signals across a long distance; set of fresh horses or other animals kept ready for mounting or hitching to a vehicle at various places along a route to increase the speed of travel.
2. Station; depot; temporary stopping point; resting place in the course of a long journey; [fig.] pause; break; intermission.