relent

From Middle English [Term?], from Anglo-Norman relentir, from Latin re- + lentare (“to bend”), from lentus (“soft, pliant, slow”). Earliest recording dates to 1526.[1]

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈlɛnt/
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

relent (plural relents)

1. Stay; stop; delay.

   There was no relent, my dear, as we pulled each other in. (From First Sign of Trouble ‒ a song by Mel Parson, 2015)

2. (obsolete) A relenting.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Edmund Spenser to this entry?)

• relentless

relent (third-person singular simple present relents, present participle relenting, simple past and past participle relented)

1. (intransitive) To become less severe or intense; to become less hard, harsh, or cruel; to soften in temper; to become more mild and tender; to feel compassion.

   He had planned to ground his son for a month, but relented and decided to give him a stern lecture instead.

   • (Can we date this quote by Kazuo Ishiguro?) The Remains of the Day

     I did, I suppose, hope that she might finally relent a little and make some conciliatory response or other.

   • 1591, William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies (First Folio), London: Printed by Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, OCLC 606515358, [Act III, scene i]:

     Can you, my Lord of Winchester, behold
     My sighs and tears and will not once relent?

2. (intransitive) To slacken; to abate.

   We waited for the storm to relent before we ventured outside.

   He will not relent in his effort to reclaim his victory.

3. (obsolete, transitive) To lessen, make less severe or intense.
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.iv:

     But nothing might relent her hastie flight; / So deepe the deadly feare of that foule swaine / Was earst impressed in her gentle spright […]

4. (dated, intransitive) To become less rigid or hard; to soften; to yield; to dissolve; to melt; to deliquesce.
   • (Can we date this quote by Boyle?)

     [Salt of tartar] placed in a cellar will […] begin to relent.

   • (Can we date this quote by Alexander Pope?)

     When opening buds salute the welcome day, / And earth, relenting, feels the genial ray.

• Audio

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relent m (plural relents)

1. lingering smell (usually bad); stench
2. (figuratively) overtone

• “relent” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).