relegate

English

WOTD – 6 January 2012

Etymology 1

First attested in 1561, borrowed from Latin relēgātus, the past participle of relēgō (“to dispatch, banish”).

Alternative forms

• religate [17th century]

Pronunciation

• enPR: rĕʹlĭgāt, IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛlɪɡeɪt/

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

Verb

1. Exile, banish, remove, or send away.
   1. (transitive, done to a person) Exile or banish to a particular place.
   2. (reflexive, obsolete, rare) Remove (oneself) to a distance from something or somewhere.
   3. (transitive, historical, Ancient Rome, done to a person) Banish from proximity to Rome for a set time; compare relegate.
      • 2002, Mark Morford, The Roman Philosophers, →ISBN, page 183:

        Eventually his freedom of speech drove Vespasian to relegate him a second time, and shortly after he was executed […] .

   4. (transitive, figuratively) Remove or send to a place far away.
2. (transitive, in extended use) Consign or assign.
   1. Consign (a person or thing) to a place, position, or role of obscurity, insignificance, oblivion, or (especially) inferiority.
   2. Assign (a thing) to an appropriate place or situation based on appraisal or classification.
   3. (sports, chiefly soccer) Transfer (a sports team) to a lower-ranking league division.
3. (transitive) Refer or submit.
   1. Refer (a point of contention) to an authority in deference to the judgment thereof.
   2. Submit (something) to someone else for appropriate action thereby; compare delegate.
   3. (now rare) Submit or refer (someone) to someone or something else for some reason or purpose.

Derived terms

• relegated, relegating

Related terms

• relegation

Translations

to exile

• Dutch: bannen (nl), verbannen (nl), relegeren
• Finnish: karkottaa (fi)
• French: reléguer (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• German: verbannen (de), fortschicken (de), absetzen (de), relegieren (de)
• Russian: ^{(please verify)} ссылать (ru) (ssylatʹ) (1.1)
• Spanish: relegar (es)

to consign

• Finnish: alentaa (fi), sijoittaa (fi)
• German: zurückstufen, herabsetzen (de), degradieren (de), zurückversetzen, herabstufen (de), absteigen lassen, einstufen (de), zuweisen (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: ^{(please verify)} низводить (ru) (nizvoditʹ) (2.1)

to refer

• Finnish: siirtää (fi)
• German: zuweisen (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Russian: отсылать (ru) impf (otsylatʹ)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} reléguer (fr)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} száműz (hu), ^{(please verify)} leminősít (hu)

References

• “relegate, v.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary, second edition (1989)
• “relegate, v.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary (draft revision, March 2010)

Etymology 2

First attested circa 1550: from the Classical (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin relēgātus (“banished person, exile”), the nominative singular masculine substantive form of relēgātus, the past participle of relēgō (“to dispatch, banish”).

Alternative forms

• relagate [16th century]

Pronunciation

• enPR: rĕʹlĭgət, IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛlɪɡət/

Noun

relegate (plural relegates)

1. (history, obsolete) A person who has been banished from proximity to Rome for a set time, but without losing his civil rights.

References

• “†ˈrelegate, n.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary, second edition (1989)
• “†relegate, n.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary (draft revision, December 2009)

Etymology 3

First attested circa 1425: from the Classical (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin relēgātus, the perfect passive participle of relēgō (“I dispatch”, “I banish”).

Alternative forms

• relegat [15th century]

• religait (Scots, [16th century])

Pronunciation

• enPR: rĕʹlĭgət, IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛlɪɡət/

Adjective

relegate (not comparable)

1. (archaic) Relegated; exiled.

References

• “†relegate, adj.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary (draft revision, June 2010)

Anagrams

• regelate

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Esperanto

Adverb

relegate

1. present adverbial passive participle of relegi

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Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /re.leˈɡa.te/
• Hyphenation: re‧le‧gà‧te

Verb

relegate

1. second-person plural present indicative of relegare
2. second-person plural imperative of relegare
3. feminine plural of relegato

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Latin

Verb

(deprecated template usage) relēgāte

1. second-person plural present active imperative of relēgō