English
resign
Resign comes from Latin resignāre ‘to unseal, annul, assign, resign’, from signō ‘to seal, stamp’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *segnom ‘sign’.
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*segnom‘sign’reconstructed
- Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*segnāōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsignōas signāre‘to seal, stamp’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEresignāre‘to unseal, annul, assign, resign’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400resigner
- Englishearliest quotation 1603resign
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Earlier history uncertain.
Lineage
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*segnom‘sign’reconstructed
- Proto-Italic, derivedc. 1500–700 BCE*segnāōreconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsignōas signāre‘to seal, stamp’
- Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEresignāre‘to unseal, annul, assign, resign’
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400resigner
- Englishearliest quotation 1603resign
Earliest quotation: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “And if the perfection of well-speaking might bring any…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *sek- ‘to cut’
saw, sex, risk, section, ship, sexual, segment, sack, insect, scarlet, sawyer, sealing, sax, het, shingle, sickle, dissect, scythe, seg, sedge, sich, brassica, desiccation, desiccant, 49 more
through Proto-Italic *segnom ‘sign’
significant, seal, signal, significance, signify, ensign, insignia, signet, sigil, signification, 14 more
through Proto-Italic *segnāō
designation, assignation, 5 more
through Latin signō ‘to seal, stamp’
Today it means
verb To give up; to relinquish ownership of.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Italic *segnom / resign