relieve
/ɹɪˈliːv/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.77 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To ease (a person, person's thoughts etc.) from mental distress; to stop (someone) feeling anxious or worried, to alleviate the distress of.
Transitive verb
Example Sentences
- "I was greatly relieved by the jury's verdict."
- "Then we relapsed into a discomfited silence, and wished we were anywhere else. But Miss Thorn relieved the situation by laughing aloud, and with such a hearty enjoyment that instead of getting angry and more mortified we began to laugh ourselves, and instantly felt better."
- "This shall not relieve either Party of any obligations."
- "In 1574, the duke of Alva laid siege to Leiden to gain control of Holland's most beautiful and prosperous city. To relieve the siege, William of Orange and his followers opened the city's protective dikes to flush out—literally—the surrounding Spanish forces."
- "Carrados was carrying a small leather case which he allowed Loudham to relieve him of, together with his hat and gloves."
- "They had thought it obsolete, but, were relieved of this misapprehension by Yule’s friend Major Trotter."
Etymology
From Late Middle English releven, from Old French relever, specifically from the conjugated forms such as (jeo) relieve (“I lift up”), and its source, Latin relevo (“to lift up, lighten, relieve, alleviate”), combined form of re- (“back”) + levo (“to lift”). Doublet of relevate. Compare levant, levity, etc.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: releven, relever, relevo