Resign Meaning
/ɹɪˈzaɪn/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
verbTo give up; to relinquish ownership of.
verbTo hand over (something to someone), place into the care or control of another.
Sentence Examples
You should do the honorable thing and resign.
The minister was obliged to resign from the cabinet.
She was forced to resign due to ill health.
CEFR Practice Quiz
Under pressure from the board, the CEO decided to ____ from his position.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She decided to ____ from her position after the board rejected her proposal for the third time.
Word Origin & History
From Anglo-Norman resigner, Middle French resigner, and its source, Latin resignāre (“to unseal, annul, assign, resign”), from re- + signāre (“to seal, stamp”). Piecewise doublet of re-sign.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"And if the perfection of well-speaking might bring any glorie sutable unto a great personage, Scipio and Lelius would never have resigned the honour of their Comedies[…]unto an Affrican servant[…]."
— 1603, Michel de Montaigne, chapter 39, in John Florio, transl., The Essayes […], book I, London: […] Val[entine] Simmes for Edward Blount […], →OCLC:
"To continue to fight through the months ahead for my personal vindication would almost totally absorb the time and attention of both the President and the Congress in a period when our entire focus should be on the great issues of peace abroad and prosperity without inflation at home. Therefore, I shall resign the Presidency effective at noon tomorrow. Vice President Ford will be sworn in as President at that hour in this office."
— 1974 August 8, Richard Nixon, 2:30 from the start, in Richard Nixon's resignation speech, CBSN:
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CEFR Practice Quiz
Under pressure from the board, the CEO decided to ____ from his position.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She decided to ____ from her position after the board rejected her proposal for the third time.