- 1心軟、讓步、不再那麼嚴
When you relent, you stop being so hard on someone. You were saying no, or keeping a strict rule, or even being — and then something in you gives way. You become softer. You let them have what they asked for, or you punish them less, or you stop pushing. People often use it after a long fight of wills: someone holds the line for a while, and then they relent. It is not the light everyday word that give in or ease up is; you meet it in stories, in the news, and in careful adult speech. Younger speakers in ordinary talk more often say give in, back down, or go easier on them. Though actually, the same word stretches off people too: rain that will not relent will not stop, and pain that will not relent will not get lighter. That is still the old picture of something that will not . The heart of the word, though, is a person who was being strict or cruel, and then, not always happily, lets that hardness bend.
組成Latin re- (back / again) + lentare, “to bend,” from lentus, “soft, able to bend, slow.” The old picture is becoming soft again, or bending back. It came into English through Anglo-Norman relentir and Middle English relenten; English has used it since the 1500s. The noun, which is rare, came from the verb.
同家族的字
- relentlessrelent + -less: not softening, never giving in
原始詞典資料7 筆記錄
以下是外部詞典記錄的用法，摘錄並精簡格式，我們還沒有寫成教學內容。上面的說明才是我們自己寫的；有些用法可能上面已經講過了。
relentverb/ɹɪˈlɛnt/
- 1
To give in or be swayed; to become less hard, harsh, or cruel; to show clemency.
- He had planned to ground his son for a month, but relented and decided to give him a stern lecture instead.
- Can you, my Lord of Winchester, behold My sighs and tears and will not once relent?
- 2
To slacken; to abate.
- We waited for the storm to relent before we ventured outside.
- He will not relent in his effort to reclaim his victory.
- 3
obsoleteTo lessen, make less severe or intense.
- But nothing might relent her hastie flight; / So deepe the deadly feare of that foule swaine / Was earst impressed in her gentle spright […]
- 4
datedTo become less rigid or hard; to soften; to yield, for example by dissolving or melting
- [Salt of tartar] placed in a cellar will […] begin to relent.
- When opening buds salute the welcome day, / And earth, relenting, feels the genial ray.
relentnoun/ɹɪˈlɛnt/
- 1
A stay; a stop; a delay.
- There was no relent, my dear, as we pulled each other in.
- The pistons of this engine moved without relent.
- 2
obsoleteA relenting.
relentadj/ɹɪˈlɛnt/
- 1
obsoleteSofthearted; yielding.
摘錄自 英文維基詞典 English Wiktionary，已精簡格式；依 CC BY-SA 4.0 授權使用，改動後的內容同樣以此授權提供。