relay 
4. An instrument, consisting principally of an 
electromagnet with the armature delicately 
adjusted for a slight motion about an axis, 
and with contact-points so arranged that the 
movement of the armature in obedience to the 
signals transmitted over the line puts a bat- 
tery, known as the local battery, into or out 
of a short local circuit in which is the record- 
ing or receiving apparatus. Also called relay- 
magnet Microphone relay. See microphone. Po- 
larized relay, a relay in which the armature is perma- 
nently magnetized. The movements of the armature 
are accomplished without the use of a retractile spring, 
and the instrument is thus more sensitive than one of 
the ordinary form. Relay of ground, ground laid up 
in fallow. Richardson. 
relay 2 (re-la'), v. t. [< re- + lay*.] To lay 
again ; lay a second time : as, to relay a pave- 
ment. 
relbun (rel'bun), n. See Calceolaria. 
releasable (re-le'sa-bl), a. [(release + -able.] 
Capable of being released. 
He [Ethelbald, king of Mercland] discharged all mon- 
asteries and churches of all kind of taxes, works, and im- 
posts, excepting such as were for building of forts and 
bridges, being (as it seems the law was then) not releas- 
able. Selden, Illustrations of Drayton's Polyolbion, xi. 
release 1 (re-les'), v. t. ; pret. and pp. released, 
ppr. releasing. [< ME. relesen, relessen, re- 
lesclten, < OF. relaissier, relessier, relesser, re- 
lease, let go, relinquish, quit, intr. stop, cease, 
rest, F. relaisser (also OF. relacher, relascher, 
F. reldcher), relax, release, = Pr. relaxar, re- 
lacltar = Sp. relajar = Pg. relaxar = It. relas- 
sare, rilassare, rilasciare, relax, release, < L. 
relaxare, relax: see relax, of which release is a 
doublet. Cf. relay*.] 1 . To let loose ; set free 
from restraint or confinement ; liberate, as from 
prison, confinement, or servitude. 
But Pilate answered them, saying, Will ye that I release 
unto you the King of the Jews? Mark xv. 9. 
The Earls Marchar and Syward, with Wolnoth, the 
Brother of Harold, a little before his Death, he [King Wil- 
liam] released out of Prison. Baker, Chronicles, p. 26. 
And I arose, and I released 
The casement, and the light increased. 
Tennyson, Two Voices. 
2. To free from pain, care, trouble, grief, or 
any other evil. 
They would be so weary of their Hues as either fly all 
their Countries, or giue all they had to be released of such 
an hourely misery. 
Quoted in Capt. John Smith's Works, II. 91. 
Leisure, silence, and a mind releas'd 
From anxious thoughts how wealth may be increas'd. 
Cowper, Retirement, 1. 139. 
3. To free from obligation or penalty: as, to 
release one from debt, or from a promise or 
covenant. 
About this time William Cecil, Lord Burleigh, and High 
Treasurer of England, finding himself to droop with Age, 
. . . sent Letters to the Queen, entreating her to release 
him of his publick Charge. Baker, Chronicles, p. 387. 
The people begged to be released from a part of their 
rates. Emerson, Hist. Discourse at Concord. 
"Good friends," he said, "since both have fled, the ruler 
and the priest, 
Judge ye if from their further work I be not well re- 
leased." Whittier, Cassandra Southwick. 
4f. To forgive. 5. To quit; let go, as a legal 
claim; remit; surrender or relinquish: as, to 
release a debt, or to release a right to lands or 
tenements by conveying to another already 
having some right or estate in possession. 
Thus, a remainder-man releases his right to the tenant in 
possession ; one coparcener releases his right to the other; 
or the mortgagee releases to the mortgager or owner of the 
equity of redemption. 
I releshe the my ryght with a rank will, 
And graunt the the gouernanse of this grete yle. 
Destruction of Troy (E. E. T. S.), 1. 13626. 
Item, that the duchy of Anjou and the county of Maine 
shall be released and delivered to the king her father. 
Shak., 2 Hen. VI., L 1. 51. 
We here release unto our faithful people 
One entire subsidy, due unto the crown 
In our dead brother's days. 
Webster and Dekker, Sir Thomas Wyatt, p. 81. 
Tithes therfore, though claim'd, and Holy under the Law, 
yet are now releas'd and quitted, both by that command to 
Peter and by this to all Ministers above cited. 
Milton, Touching Hirelings. 
6f. To relax. 
It may not seem hard if in cases of necessity certain 
profitable ordinances sometimes be released, rather than 
all men always strictly bound to the general rigor thereof. 
^_ Hooker. 
7f. 1.0 let slip; let go; give up. 
Bidding them fight for honour of their love, 
And rather die then Ladies cause release. 
Spenser, F. Q., IV. ii. 19. 
8. To take out of pawn. Nabbes, The Bride (4to, 
1640), sig. F iv. (Halliwell.)=syn. 1. To loose, de- 
liver. 1-3. Liberate, etc. See disengage. 3. To acquit. 
5060 
relentlessness 
release 1 (re-les'), [< ME. relees, reles, re- 2. In Rom. law, to send into exile; cause tore - 
lece, < OF. reles, relez, relais, rellais, F. relais = move a certain distance from Rome for a cer- 
It. rilascio, a release, relay ; from the verb: see tain period. 3. In law, to remit or put off to 
release*, v., and cf. relay*.] 1. Liberation or an inferior remedy, 
discharge from ^restraint of any kind, as from relegation (rel-e-ga'shon), w. [< OF. relega- 
confinement or bondage. 
Confined together, 
... all prisoners, sir, . . . 
They cannot budge till your release. 
Shak., Tempest, v. 1. 11. 
Thou . . . 
Who boast'st release from hell, and leave to come 
Into the heaven of heavens. Milton, P. E., 1. 409. 
2. Liberation from care, pain, or any burden. 
It seem'd so hard at first, mother, to leave the blessed sun, 
And now it seems as hard to stay, and yet His will be done ! 
But still I think it can't be long before I find release. 
Tennyson, May Queen, Conclusion. 
When the Sabbath brings its kind release, 
And care lies slumbering on the lap of Peace. 
0. W. Holmes, A Rhymed Lesson. 
3. Discharge from obligation or responsibility, 
as from debt, tax, penalty, or claim of any kind ; 
acquittance. 
The king made a great feast, . . . and he made a release 
to the provinces, and gave gifts. Esther 11. 18. 
Henry III. himself . . . sought in a papal sentence of 
absolution a release from the solemn obligations by which 
he had bound himself to his people. 
Stubbs, Const. Hist., 403. 
4. In law, a surrender of a right ; a remission 
of a claim in such form as to estop the grantor 
from asserting it again. More specifically -(o) An 
instrument by which a creditor or llenor discharges the 
debt or lien, or frees a particular person or property there- 
from, irrespective of whether payment or satisfaction has 
actually been made. Hence usually it implies a sealed 
instrument See receipt. (V) An instrument by which a 
person having or claiming an ulterior estate in land, or a 
present estate without possession, surrenders his claim to 
one having an inferior estate, or having an alleged wrong- 
ful possession ; a quitclaim. See lease and release, under 
5. In a steam-engine, the opening of the ex- 
haust-port before the stroke is finished, to less- 
en the back-pressure. 6. In archery, the act 
of letting go the bowstring in shooting; the 
mode of performing this act, which differs 
among different peoples Out of release!, with- 
out cessation. 
Whom erthe and se and heven, out of relees, 
Ay herien. Chaucer, Second Nun's Tale, 1. 46. 
Release Of dower. See dower?. = Syn. 1- 3. Deliverance, 
excuse, exemption, exoneration, absolution, clearance. 
See the verb. 
release 2 (re-les'), D.*. [< re- + lease?.] To lease 
again or anew. Imp. Diet. 
releasee (re-le-se'), n. [< release* + -eel. Cf. 
lessee, relessee.] In law, a person to whom a re- 
lease is given ; a relessee. 
releasement (re-les'ment), n. [< release^ + 
-ment. Cf. OF. relaschement, F. reldehement = 
Pr. relaxamen = Sp. relajamiento = Pg. relaxa- 
mcnto = It. relassamento, releasement.] The 
act of releasing, in any sense; a release. 
Tis I am Hercules, sent to free you all. 
... In this club behold 
All your releasements. Shirley, Lore Tricks, iil. 6. 
The Queen interposeth for the Releasement of my Lord 
of Newport and others, who are Prisoners of War. 
Howell, Letters, I. v. 8. 
releaser (re-le'ser), . 1. One who releases. 
2. In mecli., any device in the nature of a trip- 
ping mechanism whereby one part is released 
from engagement with another. [Rare.] ,__ 
release-spring (re-les'spring), A spring at- re l en tt (re-lent'), n. 
tached to the end-piece of a truck for the pur- 
pose of throwing the brakes out of contact with 
the wheels. Car-Builder's Diet. 
releasor (re-le'sor), n. [< release* + -or*.] In 
law, one who grants a release ; one who quits 
or renounces that which he has; a relessor. 
releest, n. A Middle English form of release*. 
releet (re-let'), n. [< re- + leet.] A crossing 
of roads. Halliwell. [Prov. Eng.] 
relefet, An obsolete spelling of relief. 
relegate (rel'e-gat), v. t.; pret. and pp. rele- weakly complaisant 
gated, ppr. relegating. [< L. relegatus, pp. of Relenting fool, and shallow, changing woman ! 
relegare (> It. relegare = Sp. relegar = Prrele- * hak " Bich - m " " 4 - * 31 ' 
gar, releguar = F. releguer), send away, des- relentless (re-lent'les), a. [< relent + -less."] 
patch, remove, < re-, away, back, + legare, send : Incapable of relenting ^unmoved by pityj un 
cion, relegation, F. relegation = Sp. relegation = 
It. relegazione, < L. relcgatio(n-), a sending away, 
exiling, banishing, < relegare, send away: see 
relegate.] The act of relegating : banishment: 
specifically a term in ancient Roman law, and 
also in ecclesiastical law, and in that of univer- 
sities, especially in Germany. See relegate, 2. 
The exiles are not allowed the liberty of other banished 
persons, who, within the isle or region of relegation, may 
go or move whither they please. 
Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1830), I. 388. 
Arius behaved himself so seditiously and tunuiltuarily 
that the Nicene fathers procured a temporary decree for 
his relegation. 
Jer. Taylor, Liberty of Prophesying, Ep. Ded. 
relent (re-lent'), v. [< ME. relenten, < OF. ra- 
lentir, rallentir, slacken, relent, F. ralentir = 
Pg. relentar (cf. Sp. relentecer, soften, relent, < 
L. relentescere, slacken) = It. rallentare, < L. re-, 
back, + lentus, slow, slack, tenacious, pliant; 
akin to lenis, gentle, and E. lithe*: see lenient.] 
1. intrans. If. To slacken; stay. 
Yet scarcely once to breath would they relent. 
Spenser, F. Q., IV. ii. 18. 
2f. To soften in substance ; lose compactness ; 
become less rigid or hard. 
He stired the coles til relente gan 
The wex agayn the fyr. 
Chaucer, Canon's Yeoman's Tale, 1. 267. 
There be some houses wherein sweet-meats will relent 
. . . more than in others. Bacon, Nat. Hist, 809. 
When op'ning buds salute the welcome day, 
And earth relenting feels the genial ray. 
Pope, Temple of Fame, L 4. 
3f. To deliquesce ; dissolve; melt; fadeaway. 
The colours, beynge nat suerly wrought, ... by moyst- 
nesse of wether relenteth or fadeth. 
Sir T. Elyot, The Oovernour, UL 19. 
All nature mourns, the skies relent in showers. 
Pope, Spring, 1. 69. 
4. To become less severe or intense; relax. 
[Rare.] 
The workmen let glass cool by degrees, and in such re- 
lentings of fire as they call their nealing heats, lest it 
should shiver in pieces by a violent succeeding of air. 
Sir K. Digby, On Bodies. 
The slave-trade had never relented among the Mahom- 
etans. Bancroft, Hist. U. S., I. 129. 
5. To become less harsh, cruel, or obdurate; 
soften in temper ; become more mild and ten- 
der; give way; yield; comply; feel compas- 
sion. 
Relent and yield to mercy. Shak., 2 Hen. VI., IT. 8. 11. 
Stern Proserpine relented, 
And gave him back the fair. 
Pope, Ode on St Cecilia's Day, 1. 86. 
No light had we : for that we do repent ; 
And, learning this, the bridegroom will relent. 
Too lute, too late ! ye cannot enter now. 
Tennyson, Guinevere. 
Il.t trans. 1. To slacken; remit; stay; abate. 
But nothing might relent her hasty flight. 
Spenser, F. Q., III. iv. 49. 
2. To soften; mollify; dissolve. 
In water first this opium relent, 
Of sape until it have similitude. 
Palladium, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.X p. 102. 
All his body shulde he dyssolued and relented into salte 
dropes. Sir T. Elyot, The Governour, it 12. 
[< relent, r.] 1. Remis- 
sion; stay. 
Ne rested till she came without relent 
Unto the land of Amazons. 
Spenser, F. Q., V. vii. 24. 
2. Relenting. 
Fear of death enforceth still 
In greater minds submission and relent. 
Greene, Orlando Furioso. 
relenting (re-len'ting), p. a. Inclining to relent 
or yield; soft; too easily moved ; soft-hearted; 
pitying; insensible to the distress of others; 
destitute of tenderness. 
Only in destroying I find ease 
To my relentless thoughts. Milton, P. L., ix. 130. 
= Syn. Implacable, etc. See inexorable, and list under un- 
relenting. 
relentlessly (re-lent'les-li), <?r. In a relent- 
less manner; without pity. 
^"- fll tlvlnn, J.lll jn.-ilm ll:,^ un I. Ilia. _ ._ . _ , .^T. * . _-. _., 
Relegated by their own political sympathies and Whig relentlessness (re-lent'les-nes) n The quality 
liberality ... to the comparative nselessness of literary of bem g relentless, or Unmoved by pity. Imp. 
retirement. Stubbs, Medieval and Modern Hist, p. 6. Diet. 
see legate.] 1. To send away or out of the 
way; consign, as to some obscure or remote 
destination; banish; dismiss. 
We have not relegated religion (like something we were 
ashamed to shew) to obscure municipalities or rustic vil- 
Relegate to worlds yet distant our repose. 
M. Arnold, Empedocles on Etna, 
