Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RE-LEAS-EE', n.

A person to whom a release in given.

RE-LEASE-MENT, n.

The act of releasing from confinement or obligation. – Milton.

RE-LEAS-ER, n.

One who releases.

RE-LEAS-ING, ppr.

Liberating from confinement or restraint; freeing from obligation or responsibility, or from pain or other evil; quitclaiming.

REL'E-GATE, v.t. [L. relego; re and lego, to send.]

To banish; to send into exile.

REL'E-GA-TED, pp.

Sent into exile.

REL'E-GA-TING, ppr.

Banishing.

RE-LE-GA'TION, n. [L. relegatio.]

The act of banishment; exile. – Ayliffe.

RE-LENT', n.

Remission; stay. [Obs.] – Spenser.

RE-LENT', pp.

Dissolved. [Obs.]

RE-LENT', v.i. [Fr. ralentir; Sp. relenter; It. rallentare; Sp. ablandar; Port. abrandar; the two latter from blando, L. blandus, which unites the L. blandus with lentus. The English is from re and L. lentus, gentle, pliant, slow, the primary sense of which is soft or yielding. The L. lenis is probably of the same family. See Bland.]

1. To soften; to become less rigid or hard; to give. In some houses, sweetmeats will relent more than in others. – Bacon. When op'ning buds salute the welcome day, / And earth relenting feels the genial ray. – Pope. [This sense of the word is admissible in poetry, but is not in common use.]
2. To grow moist; to deliquesce; applied to salts; as, the relenting of the air. – Bacon. Salt of tartar … placed in a cellar, will begin to relent. – Boyle. [This sense is not in use.]
3. To become less intense. [Little used.] – Sidney.
4. To soften in temper; to become more mild and tender; to feel compassion. [This is the usual sense of the word.] Can you behold / My tears, and not once relent? – Shak.

RE-LENT', v.t.

1. To slacken. And oftentimes he would relent his pace. [Obs.] – Spenser.
2. To soften; to mollify. [Obs.] – Spenser.

RE-LENT'ED, pp.

Softened in temper.

RE-LENT'ING, n.

The act of becoming more mild or compassionate.

RE-LENT'ING, ppr.

Softening in temper; becoming more mild or compassionate.

RE-LENT'LESS, a.

Unmoved by pity; unpitying; insensible to the distresses of others; destitute of tenderness; as, a prey to relentless despotism. For this th' avenging pow'r employs his darts, / Thus will persist, relentless in his ire. – Dryden. Relentless thoughts, in Milton, may signify unremitted, intently fixed on disquieting objects. – Johnson. [This sense of the word is unusual and not to be countenanced.]

RE-LENT'LESS-LY, adv.

Without pity. – Ed. Rev.

RE-LENT'LESS-NESS, n.

The quality of being unmoved by pity. – Milman.

RE-LES-SEE', n. [See Release.]

The person to whom a release is executed.

RE-LES-SOR', n.

The person who executes a release. There must be a privity of estate between the relessor and relessee. – Blackstone.

REL'E-VANCE, or REL'E-VAN-CY, n. [See Relevant.]

1. The state of being relevant, or of affording relief or aid.
2. Pertinence; applicableness.
3. In Scots law, sufficiency to infer the conclusion.

REL'E-VANT, a. [Fr. from L. relever, to relieve, to advance, to raise; re and lever, to raise.]

1. Relieving; lending aid or support. – Pownall.
2. Pertinent; applicable. The testimony is not relevant to the case. The argument is not relevant to the question. [This is the sense in which the word is now generally used.]
3. Sufficient to support the cause. – Scots Law.

REL-E-VA'TION, n.

A raising or lifting up. [Not in use.]

RE-LI'A-BLE, a.

That may be relied on or trusted.

RE-LI'A-BLE-NESS, or RE-LI-A-BIL'I-TY, n.

The state of being reliable.