Relied

How to spell relied

6 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce relied

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does relied mean?

1. verbDepended on or trusted in someone or something for support, help, or a desired outcome.

Relied in a sentence

• For years the family relied on a single income to cover the mortgage.

• She relied heavily on her colleague to finish the report on time.

Where does relied come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This is the past tense of 'rely', which entered English in the 1300s from the Old French 'relier', meaning 'to bind together' or 'to fasten'. That French verb came straight from the Latin 'religare', built from 're-' (an intensifying prefix) and 'ligare' (to bind or tie), the same root that gives us 'ligature' and arguably 'religion'. The earliest English sense was literally 'to bind' or 'to gather', but by the 1500s it had shifted to the modern figurative meaning of leaning or depending on something for support. The spelling trap appears in the past tense: because 'rely' ends in a consonant plus 'y', the 'y' turns to 'i' before the '-ed' ending, producing 'relied' rather than 'relyed'. Knowing the original 'binding' sense can help: when you rely on someone, you are figuratively tied to them.

How the word is built

• re- (intensive, back)
• -ly (from Latin religare, to bind)
• -ied (past tense, with y changed to i)