different between reluctant vs relent

English

Etymology

From Latin reluct?ns, present participle of reluctor (“to struggle against, oppose, resist”), from re- (“back”) + luctor (“to struggle”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???l?kt?nt/

Adjective

reluctant (comparative more reluctant, superlative most reluctant)

1. (now rare) Opposing; offering resistance (to).
   • 1819, Lord Byron, Don Juan, II.108:

     There, breathless, with his digging nails he clung / Fast to the sand, lest the returning wave, / From whose reluctant roar his life he wrung, / Should suck him back to her insatiate grave [...].

   • 2008, Kern Alexander et al., The World Trade Organization and Trade in Services, p. 222:

     They are reluctant to the inclusion of a necessity test, especially of a horizontal nature, and emphasize, instead, the importance of procedural disciplines [...].

2. Not wanting to take some action; unwilling.

   She was reluctant to lend him the money

3. (regular expressions) Tending to match as little text as possible.

   Antonym: greedy

Synonyms

• (offering resistance to): refractory
• (not wanting to take some action): unwilling, disinclined

Related terms

• reluctance
• reluctantly

Translations

Further reading

• reluctant in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• reluctant in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• reluctant at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• tralucent

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /???l?nt/
• Rhymes: -?nt

Noun

relent (plural relents)

1. Stay; stop; delay.
   • 2015, Mel Parson, First Sign of Trouble (song)

     There was no relent, my dear, as we pulled each other in.
2. (obsolete) A relenting.

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

Derived terms

• relentless

Translations

Verb

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

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

   • 1989, 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.
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, of substance) To become less rigid or hard; to soften; to yield, for example by dissolving or melting
   • 1669, Robert Boyle, The History of Fluidity and Firmness

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

Translations

Adjective

relent (comparative more relent, superlative most relent)

1. (obsolete) softhearted; yielding

References

French

Etymology

re- +? lent (“slow”, in the sense “lingering”)

Pronunciation

Noun

relent m (plural relents)

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

Further reading

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

Middle English

Verb

relent

1. Alternative form of relenten