Released

How to spell released

8 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce released

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does released mean?

1. verbSet free, let go, or made available to the public (past tense of release).

Released in a sentence

• The studio released the film a week ahead of schedule.

• She released the dog from its lead once they reached the open field.

Where does released come from?

Language of origin: Latin

The word traces back to the Latin relaxare, meaning 'to loosen' or 'to slacken', formed from re- (back) and laxare (to make loose), itself from laxus meaning 'loose' or 'slack'. It passed into Old French as relaisser or relesser, where it carried the sense of letting go or giving up a claim, and English adopted it in the 1300s. The earliest English uses were strongly legal: to 'release' was to surrender a right or free someone from an obligation. Over time the meaning broadened to setting any person, animal, or thing free, and later to making a product, film, or piece of information available to the public. Its loose-living cousin is 'relax', which comes from the very same Latin root, a useful reminder that the middle of the word is spelled with a single 's', not a 'c'.

How the word is built

• re- (back, again)
• lease (let go, loosen, from Latin laxare)
• -ed (past tense suffix)