Relegate Meaning
/ˈɹɛlɪˌɡeɪt/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
verbExile, banish, remove, or send away.
verbExile, banish, remove, or send away., Exile or banish to a particular place.
Sentence Examples
Don't relegate me to the back office. I want to talk to the customers.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The coach decided to ____ the failing player to the second team.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The club was ____ to the second division after finishing bottom of the league table.
Word Origin & History
First attested in 1561, borrowed from Latin relēgātus, the past participle of relēgō (“to dispatch, banish”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Eventually his freedom of speech drove Vespasian to relegate him a second time, and shortly after he was executed […]."
— 2002, Mark Morford, The Roman Philosophers, →ISBN, page 183:
"Our correspondent adds that, when he visited Rouen in 1910, the engine had been relegated to the shuttle service between Rouen (Rive Droite) and Rouen (Rive Gauche)."
— 1946 November and December, “A Veteran French Tank Engine”, in Railway Magazine, page 382:
"A Class 158 relegated from express duties turns up to transport me via the flower-bedecked Brighouse station to the trans-Pennine main line at Bradley Junction and onwards to Huddersfield."
— 2022 November 2, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, in RAIL, number 969, page 57:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The coach decided to ____ the failing player to the second team.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The club was ____ to the second division after finishing bottom of the league table.