relieve 
2. To remove, wholly or partially, as anything 
that depresses, weighs down, pains, oppresses, 
etc. ; mitigate ; alleviate ; lessen. 
Misery . . . never relieved by any. 
Shak., Venus and Adonis, 1. 708. 
I cannot behold a beggar without relieving hia necessi- 
ties with my purse, or his soul with my prayers. 
Sir T. Browne, Religio Medici, ii. 13. 
Accident in some measure relieved our embarrassment. 
Goldsmith, Vicar, vii. 
3. To free, wholly or partly, from pain, grief, 
want, anxiety, trouble, encumbrance, or any- 
thing that is considered to be an evil ; give ease, 
comfort, or consolation to ; help ; aid ; support ; 
succor: as, to relieve the poor and needy. 
He relieveth the fatherless and widow. Ps. cxlvi. 9. 
And to remember the lady's love 
That last reliev'd you out of pine. 
Young Eeichan and Susie Pye (Child's Ballads, IV. 8X 
The pain we feel prompts us to relieve ourselves in re- 
lieving those who suffer. Burke, Sublime and Beautiful. 
4. Specifically, to bring efficient help to (a be- 
sieged place) ; raise the siege of. 
The King of Scots, with the Duke of Gloucester, about 
the 8th of July besieged Dreux ; which agreed, if it were 
not relieved by the twentieth of that Month, then to sur- 
render it. Baker, Chronicles, p. 176. 
5. To release from a post, station, task, or 
duty by substituting another person or party ; 
put another in the place of, or take the place of, 
in the performance of any duty, the bearing of 
any burden, or the like : as, to relieve a sentinel 
or guard. 
Mar. Farewell, honest soldier. 
Who hath relieved you ? 
Fran. Bernardo has my place. 
Shak., Hamlet, i. 1. 17. 
6. To ease of any burden, wrong, or oppression 
by judicial or legislative interposition, by in- 
demnification for losses, or the like; right. 7. 
To give assistance to ; support. 
Parallels or like relations alternately relieve each other, 
when neither will pass asunder, yet they are plausible to- 
gether. Sir T. Browne. 
8. To mitigate ; lessen ; soften. 
Not a lichen relieves the scintillating whiteness of those 
skeleton cliffs. Harper's Mag., LXV. 197. 
9. To give relief or prominence to, literally 
or figuratively; hence, to give contrast to; 
heighten the effect or interest of, by contrast 
or variety. 
The poet must take care not to encumber his poem with 
too much business ; but sometimes to relieve the subject 
with a moral reflection. 
Addison, Essay on Virgil's Georgics. 
The vegetation against which the ruined colonnades 
are relieved consists almost wholly of almond and olive 
trees, . . . both enhancing the warm tints of the stone. 
J. A. Symonds, Italy and Greece, p. 189. 
Relieving arch. Same as arch of discharge (which see, 
under airfti). Relieving officer, in England, a salaried 
official appointed by the board of guardians of a poor-law 
union to superintend the relief of the poor in the parish 
or district. He receives applications for relief, inquires 
into facts, and ascertains whether the case is or is not 
within the conditions required by the law. He visits the 
houses of the applicants in order to pursue his inquiries, 
and gives immediate relief in urgent cases. Relieving 
tackles. See tackle. To relieve nature. See nature. 
TO relieve of, to take from ; free from : said of that which 
is burdensome. 
6063 
2. In gun., an iron ring fixed to a handle by 
means of a socket, which serves to disengage 
the searcher of a gun when one of its points 
is retained in a hole. 3. A garment kept for 
being lent out. [Slang.] 
In some sweating places there is an old coat kept called 
the reliefer, and this is borrowed by such men as have 
none of their own to go out in. 
Eingsley, Cheap Clothes and Nasty. (Dames.) 
relievo, . See rilievo. 
relight (rc-llf), . [< re- + light*.] I. trans. 
1. To light anew; illuminate again. 
His power can heal me and relight my eye. Pope. 
2. To rekindle ; set on fire again. 
II. intrans. To burn again; rekindle; take 
fire again. 
The desire . . . relit suddenly, and glowed warm in her 
heart. Charlotte Bronte, Shirley, xviii. 
religieuse (re-le-zhi-ez'), n. [< F. religieuse 
(fem. of religieux), a religious woman, a nun, 
= Sp. Pg. It. fem. religiosa, < L. re-(rel-)ligi- 
osa, fem. of religiosus, religious : see religious.] 
A nun. 
religieux (re-le-zhi-e')> .; pi. religieux. [< F. 
religieux, n. and a., religious, a religious per- 
son, esp. a monk : see religious.] One who is 
engaged by vows to follow a certain rule of life 
authorized by the church ; a member of a mo- 
nastic order; a monk. 
religion (re-lij'on), n. [< ME. religiun, reli- 
gioun, < OF. religium, religion, F. religion = Pr. 
religio, religion. = Sp. religion = Pg. religiao = 
It. religione = D. religie = G. Sw. Dan. religion, 
< L. religio(n-), relligio(n-), reverence toward 
the gods, fear of God, piety, conscientious scru- 
pulousness, religious awe, conscientiousness, 
exactness; origin uncertain, being disputed by 
ancient writers themselves : (a) according to 
Cicero, < relegere, go through or over again in 
reading, speech, or thought ("qui omnia qure 
ad cultum deorum pertinerent diligenter re- 
tractarent et tamquam relegerent sunt dicti re- 
ligiosi ex relegendo, ut elegantes ex eligendo," 
etc. Cicero, Nat. Deor., ii. 28, 72), whence ppr. 
religen(t-)s (rare), revering the gods, pious (cf. 
the opposite necligen(t-)s, negligent); cf.Gr.dAt- 
yuv, reverence, (b) According to Servius, Lac- 
tantius, Augustine, and others, and to the com- 
mon modern view, < religare, bind back, bind 
fast, as if 'obligation' (cf. obligation, of same 
radical origin), < re-, back, + ligare, bind: see 
ligament, (c) < relegere, the same verb as in 
(a) above, in the lit. sense ' gather again, col- 
lect,' as if orig. 'a collection of religious formu- 
las.' Words of religious use are especially lia- 
ble to lose their literal meanings, and to take 
on the aspect of sacred primitives, making it 
difficult to trace or impossible to prove their 
orig. meaning or formation.] 1. Recognition 
of and allegiance in manner of life to a super- 
human power or superhuman powers, to whom 
allegiance and service are regarded as justly 
due. 
One rising, eminent 
In wise deport, spake much of right and wrong, 
Of justice, of religion, truth, and peace, 
And judgment from above. Milton, P. L., xi. 667. 
Vn K i i A t*u By Religion I understand the belief and worship of Su- 
He shook hands with none until he had helped Miss ' .,/,, and wm , iil . ec;til ,, rthe UIliver8C aml holding 
Brown to unfurl her umbrella, [and] had relieved her of 
her prayer-book. Mrs. Gaskett, Cranford i. 
= Syn. 2. Mitigate, Assuage, etc. (see alleviate); diminish, 
lighten. 
Il.t intrans. To rise ; arise. 
As soon as I might I releved up again. 
Lamentation of Mary Magdalene, si. 29. 
Thane relevis the renkes of the rounde table 
Be the riche revare, that rynnys so faire. 
Morte Arthure (E. E. T. S.), 1. 2278. 
At eche tyme that he [Frolle] didde releve, he [Galashin] 
smote hym with his swerde to grounde, that his men wende 
wele that he hadde be deed. Merlin (E. E. T. S.), iii. 397. 
relievementt (re-lev'ment), n. [= F. releve- 
ment = Pr. relevament = It. rilevamento, < ML. 
relevameittum, relieving, relief, < relevare, re- 
lieve : see relieve.] The act of relieving, or the 
state of being relieved, in any sense ; that which 
mitigates or lightens; relief. 
His [Robert's] delay yields the King time to confirm 
him Friends, under-work his Enemies, and make himself 
strong with the English, which he did by granting relaxa- 
tion of tribute, with other relievements of their doleances. 
Daniel, Hist. Eng., p. 53. 
reliever (re-le'ver), n. [< relieve + -er 1 .] 1. 
One who or that which relieves or gives relief. 
O welcome, my reliever; 
Aristius, ns thou lov'st me, ransom me. 
E. Jonson, Poetaster, iii. 1. 
It acts in three ways . . . (2) as a reliever of congestion. 
Lancet, No. 3449, p. 3 of Adv'ts. 
preme Mind and Will, directing the universe and holding 
moral relations with human life. 
J. Marlineau, A Study of Keligion, I. 15. 
By Religion I mean the knowledge of God, of His Will, 
and of our duties towards Him. 
J. H. Nevrman, Gram, of Assent, p. 378. 
Religion is the communion between a worshipping sub- 
ject and a worshipped object the communion of a man 
with what he believes to be a god. 
Faiths of the World, p. 345. 
2. The healthful development and right life of 
the spiritual nature, as contrasted with that of 
the mere intellectual and social powers. 
For religion, pure religion, I say, standeth not in wear- 
ing of a monk's cowl, but in righteousness, justice, and 
well doing. Latimer, Sermons, p. 392. 
Reliyinn is Christianity, which, being too spiritual to be 
seen by us, doth therefore take an apparent body of good 
life and works, so salvation requires an honest Christian. 
Donne, Letters, xxx. 
Religion, if we follow the intention of human thought 
and human language in the use of the word, is ethics 
heightened, enkindled, lit up by feeling; the passage 
from morality to religion is made when to morality is 
applied emotion. M. Arnold, Literature and Dogma, i. 
3. Any system of faith in and worship of a 
divine Being or beings: as, the Christian reli- 
gion ; the religion of the Jews, Greeks, Hindus, 
or Mohammedans. 
The church of Rome, they say, . . . did almost out of 
all religions take whatsoever had any fair and gorgeous 
show. Hooker, Eccles. Polity, iv. 11. 
religionism 
After the most straitest sect of our religion I lived a 
Pharisee. Acts xxvi. 5. 
No religion binds men to be traitors. 
B. Jonson, Catiline, lit 2. 
4f. The rites or services of religion ; the prac- 
tice of sacred rites and ceremonies. 
What she was pleased to believe apt to minister to her 
devotions, and the religions of her pious and discerning 
soul. Jer. Taylor, Works (ed. 1835), I. 756. 
The invisible 
Glory of him that made them to transform 
Oft to the image of a brute adorn'd 
With gay religions full of pomp and gold. 
Mittm, P. L., i. 872. 
5. The state of life of a professed member of 
a regular monastic order : as, to enter religion; 
her name in religion is Mary Aloysia : now es- 
pecially in Eoman Catholic use. 
He [Dobet] is lowe as a lombe, and loueliche of speche, . . . 
And is ronne in-to religion, and rendreth hus byble, 
And precheth to the puple seynt Ponies wordes. 
Fieri Plowman (C), xi. 88. 
And thus when that the! were counselled, 
In black clothes thei them clothe, 
The doughter and the lady both, 
And yolde hem to religion. 
Gower, Coat. Amant., viii. 
He buryed Bedewere 
Hys frend and hys Botyler, 
And so he dude other Echon 
In Abbeys of Relygyoun 
That were cristien of name. 
Arthur (ed. Furnivall), 1. 488. 
6. A conscientious scruple ; scrupulosity. [Ob- 
solete or provincial.] 
Out of a religion to my charge, 
And debt professed, I have made a self-decree 
Ne'er to express my person. 
B. Jonson, New Inn, L 1. 
Its [a jelly's] acidity sharpens Mr. Wall's teeth as for 
battle, yet, under the circumstances, he makes a religion 
of eating it. W. M. Baker, New Timothy, p. 19. 
7. Sense of obligation; conscientiousness; 
sense of duty. 
JRos. Keep your promise. 
Orl. With no less religion than if thou wert indeed my 
Rosalind. Shak., As you Like it, Iv. 1. 201. 
Established religion, that form of religion in a country 
which is recognized and sanctioned by the state. See es- 
tablishment, 6. Evidences of revealed religion. See 
evidences of Christianity, under Christianity. Experi- 
mental religion. See experimental. Natural reli- 
gion, that knowledge of and reverent feeling toward God, 
and that knowledge and practice of our duties toward our 
fellow-men, which is based on and derived from nature, 
apart from revelation. Religion of Humanity. See 
positive philosophy, under positive. Revealed religion, 
that knowledge of God and right feeling toward him, 
and that recognition and practice of duty toward our 
fellow-men, which is derived from and based upon posi- 
tive revelation. To experience religion. See experi- 
ence. To get religion. See !. = Syn. 1. Religion, 
Devotion, Piety, Sanctity, SaintUness, Godliness, Holiness, 
Religiosity. In the subjective aspect of these words 
religion is the most general, as it may be also the most 
formal or external ; in this sense it is the place of the 
will and character of God in the heart, so that they are 
the principal object of regard and the controlling in- 
fluence. Devotion and piety have most of fervor. De- 
votion is a religion that consecrates itself, being both 
a close attention to God with complete inward subjec- 
tion and an equal attention to the duties of religion. 
Piety is religion under the aspect of filial feeling and con- 
duct, the former being the primary idea. Sanctity is gen- 
erally used objectively ; subjectively it is the same as 
holiness. SaintUness is more concrete than sanctity, more 
distinctly a quality of a person, likeness to a saint, ripe- 
ness for heaven. Godliness is higher than SaintUness ; it 
is likeness to God, or the endeavor to attain such like- 
ness, fixed attention given immediately to God, especially 
obedience to his will and endeavor to copy his character. 
Holiness is the most absolute of these words ; it is moral 
and religious wholeness, completeness, or something ap- 
proaching so near to absolute freedom from sin as to make 
the word appropriate ; it includes not only being free 
from sin, but refusing it and hating it for its own sake. 
Religiosity is not a very common nor a very euphonious 
word, but seems to meet a felt want by expressing a sus- 
ceptibility to the sentiments of religion, awe, reverence, 
admiration for the teachings of religion, etc., without 
much disposition to obey its commands. 
religionary (re-lij'on-a-ri), a. andn. [< F. re- 
ligionnaire = Sp. Pg. It. religionario ; as religion 
+ -ary.] I. a. 1. Relating to religion. 2f. 
Pious. 
His [Bishop Saunderson's] religionary professions in his 
last will and testament contain something like prophet- 
ical matter. Bp. Barlow, Remains, p. 638. 
II. n.; pi. religionaries (-riz). Same as reli- 
gionist. [Rare.] 
religioner (re-lij'on-er), n. [< F. religionnaire 
= Sp. religionario, a religionist, < NL. "religi- 
onarius, < L. religio(n-), religion: see religion.] 
A religionist. [Rare.] 
These new fashioned religioners have fast-days. 
Scott, Monastery, xxv. 
religionise, v. See religionize. 
religionism (re-lij'on-izm), n. [< religion + 
-i/sm.] 1. Outward practice or profession of 
religion. 
