To voluntarily leave a job or position; to accept something undesirable but inevitable (resign oneself to).
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Latin14th centurywell-attested
From OldFrench 'resigner' anddirectly from Latin 'resignāre' (to unseal, to open, to cancel, to give back), a compound of 're-' (back) and 'signāre' (to mark, to seal), from 'signum' (mark, sign, token). Latin 'signum' is traced to PIE *sekw- (to follow, to perceive), reflecting the idea that a sign is something one follows or that indicates a direction. This root also produced Old English
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Theverb 'resign' and the verb 're-sign' (to sign again) are spelled identically without the hyphen but pronounced differently: resign is /rɪˈzaɪn/ and re-sign is /ˌriːˈsaɪn/. A headline reading 'Manager Resigns' and 'Manager Re-signs' have opposite meanings — one is leaving, the other is staying. This orthographic ambiguity has causedgenuine confusion in sports
up a position or claim. English borrowed it in the 14th century, and by the 15th century the dominant meaning had shifted to 'voluntarily giving up an office or position.' The reflexive form 'resign oneself' (to submit to the inevitable) emerged in the 17th century, adding a psychological dimension of acceptance to the act of relinquishment. Key roots: re- (Latin: "back, again"), signāre (Latin: "to mark, to sign, to seal"), signum (Latin: "a mark, sign").