Releasing

How to spell releasing

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce releasing

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does releasing mean?

1. verbSetting free, letting go of, or making something available to the public.

Releasing in a sentence

• The studio is releasing the film in cinemas next month.

• The prison was releasing several inmates on parole that week.

Where does releasing come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin verb relaxare, which meant 'to loosen' or 'to stretch out again', formed from the prefix re- ('back' or 'again') and laxare ('to loosen'), itself from laxus meaning 'loose' or 'slack'. The verb passed into Old French as relaissier or relesser, where it took on the legal and practical sense of letting go of a claim, a right, or a captive. English borrowed it in the 1300s, originally in the sense of setting someone free from an obligation or from confinement. Over time it broadened to cover freeing anything held back, from prisoners and emotions to products and films. The very same Latin laxare also gave us the gentler word 'relax', so the idea of loosening sits quietly inside both spellings; remembering that 'lease' hides in the middle helps keep the single s and the -eas- order straight.

How the word is built

• re- (back, again)
• lease (from Latin laxare: to loosen)
• -ing (present participle suffix)