resign

/ɹɪˈzaɪn/rih-ZYN

/ɹɪˈzaɪn/rih-ZYN

Meaningto unseal

Common meaning: to give up a post

reback, againSkeat, Concise Etymological Dictionary (1911), p. 444 · scan
signa mark, tokenSkeat, Etymological Dictionary (1898), p. 553 · scan

‘back, again’ + ‘a mark, token’ → resign

Journey through time

re — Latin re- “back, again” (path traced)
sign — Latin signum “a mark, token” (path traced)

Parts join in Latin as resignare.

Latinre- + signare‘back, again + a mark, token’source
Latinresignaresource
Middle Englishresignensource
Englishresign‘to give up a post’ · today

Sources & notes

Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.

Pronunciation

UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.

Origin: Built on Latin resignare, which Skeat (Concise Dictionary, 1911) analyses as re- ‘back, again’ + signare ‘a mark, token’.

Roots

resignare Latin “to unseal”
signum Latin “a mark”

Related words

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