Resignation

How to spell resignation

11 letters · 4 syllables

How to pronounce resignation

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does resignation mean?

1. nounThe formal act of giving up a job, office, or position, usually in writing.
2. nounCalm, unresisting acceptance of something difficult that cannot be changed.

Resignation in a sentence

• She handed her resignation to the manager on Friday morning.

• She faced the diagnosis with a quiet resignation that steadied the whole family.

• The minister's sudden resignation surprised the entire cabinet.

• There was a tone of resignation in his voice as the delays piled up again.

Where does resignation come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends from the Latin verb resignare, which literally meant 'to unseal' or 'to cancel'; it was built from re-, here carrying the sense of 'back' or 'undo', and signare, 'to mark or seal', the same root that gives us 'sign' and 'signature'. Because a Roman contract or transfer was confirmed with a seal, to 'unseal' it was to give it back or annul it, and from there the verb came to mean handing back an office or possession. The noun resignatio followed, and English took the word through Old French in the late 1300s, at first for the formal surrendering of a position or right. By the 1600s a second, emotional sense had grown up: the quiet 'giving back' of one's own will, that is, calm acceptance of something one cannot change. The buried 'sign' in the middle is the spelling clue worth remembering, since the silent g sits exactly where 'sign' does, even though you do not hear it.

How the word is built

• re- (back)
• sign (from Latin signare: to mark, seal)
• -ation (noun of action)