relentment 
relentment (re-lent'mont), ii. [= It. ralleitta- 
mento; as relent + -m'ent.] The act or state 
of relenting ; compassion. Imp. Diet. 
reles 1 t, . A Middle English form of release*. 
reles-t, . A Middle English form of relish. 
relesset, <. A Middle English form of release*. 
relessee (re-le-se'), . [Var. of releases, imi- 
tating the simple lessee.] In law, the person to 
whom a release is executed. 
relessor (re-les'or), M. [Var. of releasor. Cf. 
relessee.'] In law, the person who executes a 
release. 
There must be a privity of estate between the rdesiar 
and relessee. Blackstone, Com., II. xx. 
relet (re-let'), v. t. [< re- + let*, v.] To let 
anew, as a house. 
relevance (rel'e-vans), H. [= Pg. relevancia ; 
as relei-an(t) + -ce"] Same as relevancy. 
relevancy (rel'e-van-si), . [As relevance (see 
-cy).] If. The state of affording relief or aid. 
2. The state or character of being relevant or 
pertinent; pertinence; applicableness; defi- 
nite or obvious relation ; recognizable connec- 
tion. 
Much I marvelled this ungainly fowl to hear discourse so 
plainly, 
Though its answer little meaning little relevancy bore. 
Foe, The Raven. 
3. In Scots law, fitness or sufficiency to bring 
about a decision. The relemncy of the libel, in Scots 
law, is the sufficiency of the matters therein stated to war- 
rant a decree in the terms asked. 
The presiding Judge next directed the counsel to plead 
to the relemncy : that is, to state on either part the argu- 
ments in point of law, and evidence in point of fact, 
against and in favour of the criminal. 
Scott, Heart of Mid-Lothian, xxii. 
relevant (rel'e-vant), a. [< OF. relevant, assist- 
ing, = Sp. Pg. relet ante, raising, important. < 
L. relevan(t-)s, ppr. of relevare, lift up again, 
lighten, relieve, hence in Rom. help, assist: 
see relieve, and cf . levant*.'] 1 . To the purpose ; 
pertinent; applicable: as, the testimony is not 
relevant to the case. 
Close and relevant arguments have very little hold on the 
passions. Sydney Smith. 
2. In law, being in subject-matter germane to 
the controversy ; conducive to the proof or 
disproof of a fact in issue or a pertinent hy- 
pothesis. See irrelevant. 
The word relevant means that any two facts to which it 
is applied are so related to each other that, according to 
the common course of events, one, either taken by itself 
or in connection with other facts, proves or renders prob- 
able the past, present, or future existence of the other. 
Stephen. 
3. In Scotslaw, sufficient legally: as, a relevant 
plea. 
The Judges . . . recorded their judgment, which bore 
that the indictment, if proved, was relevant to infer the 
pains of law : and that the defence, that the panel had 
communicated her situation to her sister, was a relevant 
defence. Scott, Heart of Mid-Lothian, xxii. 
=Syn. 1 and 2. Apposite, appropriate, suitable, fit. 
relevantly (rel'e-vaut-li), adv. In a relevant 
manner ; with relevancy. 
relevationt (rel-e-va'shpn), n. [= Sp. releva- 
cion, < L. relevatio(n-), a lightening, relief, < re- 
levare, lighten, relieve: see relevant, relieve.] 
A raising or lifting up. Bailey. 
relevet, . A Middle English form of relieve 
reliability (re-li-a-bil'i-ti), n. [< reliable + -ity 
(see -bility).] The state or quality of being 
reliable ; reliableness. 
He bestows all the pleasures, and inspires all that ease 
of mind on those around him or connected with him 
which perfect consistency, and (if such a word might be 
framed) absolute reliability, equally in small as in great 
concerns, cannot but inspire and bestow. 
Coleridge, Biog. Lit., Ui. 
reliable (re-H'a-bl), a. [< rely*- + -able.] That 
may be relied on ; fit or worthy to be relied on ; 
worthy of reliance ; to be depended on ; trust- 
worthy. [This word, which involves a use of the suffix 
-aUe superficially different from its more familiar use in 
provable, 'that may be proved, 1 eatable, ' that may be eaten ' 
etc., has been much objected to by purists on philological 
grounds. The objection, however, really has no philologi- 
cal justification, being based on an imperfect knowledge 
of the history and uses of the suffix -able, or on a too nar- 
row view of its office. Compare amUable, conversable, dis- 
pensable, laughable, and many other examples collected 
by titzedward Hall in his work cited below, and see -able. 
As a matter of usage, however, the word is shunned bv 
many fastidious writers.) 
The Emperor of Russia may have announced the res- 
toration of monarchy as exclusively his object This is 
not considered as the ultimate object, by this country 
but as the best means, and most reliable pledge of a higher 
object, viz. our own security, and that of Europe. 
Colendye .Essays on His Own Times, p. 296 (on a speech by 
l-Mr. Pitt (Nov. 17, 1800), as manipulated by Coleridge)- 
[quoted in F. Hall's Adjectives in -aMe p ->9 
5001 
According to General Livingston's humorous account, 
his own village of Klizabethtown was not much more 
reliable, being peopled in those agitated times by "un- 
known, unrecommended strangers, guilty-looking tories, 
and very knavish whigs." Irving. (Webster.) 
He [Mr. Grote] seems to think that the reliable chronol- 
ogy of Greece begins before its reliable history. 
Gladstone, Oxford Essays (1857), p. 49. 
She [the Church] has now a direct command, and a re- 
liable influence, over her own institutions, which was 
wanting in the middle ages. 
J. H. Newman, Lectures and Essays on University Sub- 
[jects (ed. 1859), p. 302. 
Above all, the grand and only reliable security, in the 
last resort, against the despotism of the government, is 
in that case wanting the sympathy of the army with the 
people. J. S. Mill, Representative Government, xvi. 
The sturdy peasant ... has become very well accus- 
tomed to that spectacle, and regards the said lord as his 
most reliable source of trinkgelds and other pecuniary ad- 
vantages. 
Leslie Stephen, Playground of Europe (1871), p. 47. 
=Syn. Trustworthy, trusty. 
reliableness (re-li'a-bl-nes), n. The state or 
quality of being reliable ; reliability. 
The number of steps in an argument does not subtract 
up by UK. .. 
J. S. Mill, Logic (ed. 1865), I. 303. 
reliably (re-li'a-bli), adv. In a reliable man- 
ner; so as to be relied on. 
reliance (re-H'ans), . [< relyi + -ance.] 1. 
The act of relying, or the state or character of 
being reliant ; confident rest for support ; con- 
fidence; dependence: as, we may have perfect 
reliance on the promises of God; to have reli- 
ance on the testimony of witnesses. 
His days and times are past, 
And my reliances on his fracted dates 
Have smit my credit. Shak., T. of A., ii. 1. 22. 
Who would lend to a government that prefaced its over- 
tures for borrowing by an act which demonstrated that no 
reliance could be placed on the steadiness of its measures 
for paying ? A. Hamilton, The Federalist, No. MX. 
2. Anything on which to rely; sure depen- 
dence ; ground of trust. 
reliant (re-li'ant), a. [< rely* + -ant.] Having 
or indicating reliance or confidence; confident; 
self -trustful : as, a reliant spirit ; a reliant bear- 
ing. 
Dinah was too reliant on the Divine will to attempt to 
achieve any end by a deceptive concealment. 
George Eliot, Adam Bede, Hi. 
relic (rel'ik), n. [Formerly also reliek, relique; 
< ME. relyke, relike, chiefly pi., < OF. reliques, 
pi., F. relique, pi. reliques = Pr. reliquias = Sp. 
Pg. It. reliquia = AS. reliquias, relics (also in 
comp. relic-gong, a going to visit relics), < L. 
reliquise, remains, relics, < relinquere (pret. reli- 
qui, pp. relictus), leave behind: see relinquish. 
Cf . relict.] 1 . That which remains ; that which 
is left after the consumption, loss, or decay of 
the rest. 
The Mouse and the Catte fell to their victualles, beeing 
such reliques as the olde manne had left. 
Lyly, Euphues and his England, p. 234. 
They shew monstrous bones, the Reliques of the Whale 
from which Perseus freed Andromeda. 
Purchas, Pilgrimage, p. 95. 
Fair Greece ! sad relic of departed worth ! 
Byron, Childe Harold, ii. 73. 
relief 
What make ye this way? we keep no reKcs here, 
Nor holy shrines. Fletcher, Pilgrim, I. 2. 
Lists of relics belonging to certain churches in this coun- 
try are often to be met with in Anglo-Saxon manuscripts. 
Rock, Church of our Fathers, III. i. 357, note. 
5t. Something dear or precious. 
It is a fulle noble thing 
Whanne thyne eyen have mctyng 
With that relike precious, 
Wherof they be so desirous. 
Rom. of the Rose, 1. 2907. 
6f. A monument. 
Shall we go see the reliquei of this town? 
Shak., T. N., ill. 3. 19. 
= Syil. 4. Remains, Relics. The remains fit a dead person 
are his corpse or his literary works ; in the latter case they 
are, for the sake of distinction, generally called literary 
remains. We speak also of the remains of a feast, of a 
city, building, monument, etc. Relics always suggests 
antiquity : as, the relics of ancient sovereigns, heroes, and 
especially saints. The singular of relics is used ; that of 
remains is not. 
relic-knife (rel'ik-nlf), . A knife made so 
as to contain the relic or supposed relic of a 
saint, either in a small cavity provided for the 
purpose in the handle, or by incorporating the 
relic, if a piece of bone or the like, in the deco- 
ration of the handle itself. Jour. Brit. Archxol. 
Ass., X. 89. 
reliclyt (rel'ik-li), adv. [< relic + -lyV.] As a 
relic; with care such as is given to a relic. 
[Bare.] 
As a thrifty wench scrapes kitchen-stuff, 
And barrelling the droppings, and the snuff 
Of wasting candles, which in thirty year, 
Jlelicly kept, perchance buys wedding cheer. 
Donne, Satires, 11. 
relic-monger (rel'ik-mung // ger), H. One who 
traffics in relics ; hence, one who has a passion 
for collecting objects to serve as relics or sou- 
venirs. 
The beauty and historic interest of the heads must have 
tempted the senseless and unscrupulous greed of mere 
relic-mongers. Harper's Mag., LXXVI. 302. 
relict (rel'ikt), n. and a. [< OF. relict,m., relicte, 
f ., a person or thing left behind, esp. relicte, f., 
a widow, < L. relictus, fern, relicta, neut. relic- 
turn, left behind, pp. of relinquere, leave be- 
hind: see relic, relinquish.] I. . If. One who 
is left or who remains ; a survivor. 
The eldest daughter, Frances, ... is the sole relict of 
the family. B. Jonson, New Inn, Arg. 
2. Specifically, a widower or widow, especially 
a widow. 
He took to Wife the virtuous Lady Emma, the Relict of 
K. Ethelred. Baker, Chronicles, p. 16. 
Though the relict of a man or woman hath liberty to 
contract new relations, yet I do not find they have liberty 
to cast off the old. Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), II. 84. 
Who cou'd love such an unhappy Relict as I am? 
Steele, Grief A-la-Mode, lit 1. 
3f. A thing left behind ; a relic. 
To breake the eggeshell after the meat is out, wee are 
taught in our childhood, and practice it all our lives, which 
neverthelesse is but a superstitious relict. 
Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Epid. (1646), v. 21. 
II. a. Left; remaining; surviving. 
His Relict Lady . . . lived long in Westminster. 
Fuller, Worthies, Lincoln, II. 13. (Dames.) 
What needs my Shakspeare, for his honour'd bones, 
The labour of an age in piled stones? 
Or that his hallow'd reliques should be hid 
Under a star-ypointing pyramid? 
Milton, Epitaph on Shakspeare. 
3. That which is preserved in remembrance ; 
a memento; a souvenir; a keepsake. 
His [Peter Stuyvesant's] silver-mounted wooden leg is 
still treasured up in the store-room as an invaluable 
relique. Irving, Knickerbocker, p. 466. 
4. An object held in reverence or affection be- 
cause connected with some sacred or beloved 
person deceased ; specifically, in the Bom. Cath. 
Ch., the Or. Ch., and some other churches, a 
saint's body or part of it, or an object supposed 
to have been connected with the life or body of 
Christ, of the Virgin Mary, or of some saint or 
martyr, and regarded therefore as a personal 
memorial worthy of religious veneration. Bel- 
ics are of three classes: (a) the entire bodies or parts 
of the bodies of venerated persons, (6) objects used by 
their bodies. Relics are preserved in churches, convents, 
etc., to which pilgrimages are on their account frequently 
made. The miraculous virtues which are attributed to 
them are defended by such instances from Scripture as 
that of the miracles which were wrought by the bones of 
Elisha (2 Ki. xiii. 21). 
The in a Chirche of Seynt Silvester ys many grett rel- 
uruis, a pece of the vesture of our blyssyd lady. 
Torkington, Diarie of Eng. Travel!, p. 4. 
A vyne whoos fruite humoure wol putrifle 
Pampyned [pruned] is to be by every side, 
Relicte on hit oonly the croppes hie. 
PaUadius, Husbondrie (E. E. T. S.), p. 186. 
relicted (re-lik'ted), a. [< L. relictus, pp. of 
relinquere, relinquish, leave behind (see relin- 
by the sudden recession of the sea or other body 
of water. 
reliction (re-lik'shon), . [< L. relictio(n-), a 
leaving behind, forsaking, < relinquere, pp. re- 
lictus, forsake, abandon : see relict, relinquish.] 
In law, the sudden recession of the sea or other 
body of water from land; also, land thus left 
uncovered. 
relief (re-lef ), M. [< ME. releef, relef e, relef, 
also rclif, relyf, relyve, relief, also remnants left 
over, relics, a basket of fragments, < OF. relef, 
relief, a raising, relieving, a relief, a thing 
raised, scraps, fragments, also raised or em- 
bossed work, relief, F. relief, relief, embossed 
work, = Pr. releu = Cat. relleu = Sp. relieve, 
a relief, reliero, embossed work, relevo, relief 
(milit), = Pg. relevo, embossed work, = It. . 
rilevo, remnants, fragments, rilievo, embossed 
work (see bas-relief, basso-rilievo) ; from the 
verb: see relieve.] 'l. The act of relieving, or 
the state of being relieved; the removal, in 
whole or in part, of any pain, oppression, or 
