Relaxation

How to spell relaxation

10 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce relaxation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does relaxation mean?

1. nounThe state of being free from tension and worry, or the act of resting to achieve this.
2. nounThe making less strict or severe of a rule, restriction, or control.

Relaxation in a sentence

• A hot bath after work is pure relaxation for her.

• The relaxation of travel restrictions boosted summer tourism.

• The spa weekend was devoted entirely to rest and relaxation.

• Business owners welcomed the relaxation of planning regulations.

Where does relaxation come from?

Language of origin: Latin

Relaxation comes from the Latin relaxatio, a noun built on the verb relaxare, which meant 'to loosen again' or 'to slacken'. That verb combined re-, here adding a sense of reversal or repetition, with laxare 'to loosen', which itself grew from the adjective laxus meaning 'loose, slack, or wide'. The same laxus root sits behind the modern words 'lax' and 'laxative', and even 'release' traces back to the related idea of letting go. English took relaxation in during the late Middle Ages, at first in a fairly physical or medical sense of loosening something tight, before it broadened to the familiar modern idea of resting and easing mental or bodily tension. The spelling keeps the tidy Latin pattern of lax plus -ation, and remembering the 'lax' (loose) core helps fix the single x and the -ation ending.

How the word is built

• re- (back, again)
• lax (from laxus: loose, slack)
• -ation (noun-forming suffix)