Trivia Time

Which word does not share the same Latin root as rely?

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rely

American  

[ri-lahy] / rɪˈlaɪ /

verb (used without object)

• relies,
  present (3rd person singular)
• relied,
  past participle,  past
• relying
  present participle

1. 

   to depend confidently; put trust in (usually followed by on orupon ).

   You can rely on her work.

   Synonyms:

   bank, count, trust

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rely British  

/ rɪˈlaɪ /

verb

1. to be dependent (on)

   he relies on his charm

2. to have trust or confidence (in)

   you can rely on us

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• misrely
  verb (used without object)

Inflected Forms

Participles

• relying
  present
• relied
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• rely
  simple
• relies
  simple
• have relied
  perfect
• has relied
  perfect
• am relying
  progressive
• are relying
  progressive
• is relying
  progressive
• have been relying
  perfect progressive
• has been relying
  perfect progressive

Past

• relied
  simple
• had relied
  perfect
• was relying
  progressive
• were relying
  progressive
• had been relying
  perfect progressive

Future

• will rely
  simple
• will have relied
  perfect
• will be relying
  progressive
• will have been relying
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of rely

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English relien, from Middle French relier, from Latin religāre “to bind fast, hold firmly”; see re-, ligament

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Explanation

To rely is to have confidence in something. You might rely on staying in bed to make you feel better and rely on your friends to tell you everything you missed when you were sick. Rely is a lot like the word depend. If you rely on someone for help, you also depend on her. But rely is even more powerful! When you rely on someone, you have total faith and trust that she will come through. It comes from the Latin word religare which means "to fasten or bind." You're bound to the people you rely on!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

rely relies relied relying

"With Japan's population shrinking by more than 900,000 a year... we have no choice but to rely on foreign workers," said Menju, a visiting professor at the Kansai University of International Studies.

From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026

Human translators rely on A.I. tools; they have to, just to meet even a fraction of demand, Federici said.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

It said "maintaining fuel duty at its current rate will help avoid additional costs for households and businesses that rely on transport, providing continued support at a time when many islanders remain under financial pressure".

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

Chief among them is the pessimism of many Chinese and their unwillingness to spend the money they earn, forcing manufacturers to rely on exports.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

All my life those instincts had been instructing me in this single doctrine—that the odds are better if you rely only on yourself.

From "Educated" by Tara Westover

No one understands their audience better than she does, knowing comedy relies as much on observation as on good, old-fashioned slapstick.

From Salon ● Oct. 16, 2026

More willing to listen to his body and to communicate what it’s telling him with the ball club that relies on him so much.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Originally seen at London’s prestigious Hampstead Theatre, “A Ghost in Your Ear,” like “Paranormal Activity” on Broadway, relies less on action than atmosphere to keep us unsettled.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

South-east England relies more heavily on groundwater than reservoirs.

From BBC ● Oct. 15, 2026

“Like music, a movement relies heavily on time. These women, like many others, knew the time had come.”

From "Split the Sky" by Marie Arnold

Melting snow provides water for the river, which is relied upon by more than 40 million people across seven U.S. states, tribal nations and Mexico.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

A key part of City's defence will be that the Independent Commission relied too heavily on the emails obtained through the Football Leaks files.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

For much of the past half-century, capital has grown faster than wages, rewarding people who owned financial assets more than those who relied on their paychecks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2026

Because the research relied on survey responses, the results demonstrate associations rather than proving that these habits directly improve psychological flexibility or resilience.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

Two weeks later I received a letter from him that said, in effect, that when he, too, sometimes had doubts, he relied on his faith to carry him through.

From "Bad Boy" by Walter Dean Myers

“Picks-and-shovels” companies making AI hardware are better-positioned than those relying on “cheap borrowed money to expand,” said Michael Landsberg, chief investment officer at Landsberg Bennett Private Wealth Management.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2026

Kyiv had been relying on the more capable high-speed capabilities to control midrange attack drones and help intercept Russian attacks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

Following individuals over decades allowed researchers to observe how fitness changed within the same population rather than relying on comparisons between different generations.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 15, 2026

Health experts say it highlights the limitations of relying on temperature checks and self-declarations.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

Instead of living in concert with the land, instead of relying on the country for sustenance as the natives did, he attempted to insulate himself from the northern environment with ill-suited military tools and traditions.

From "Into the Wild" by Jon Krakauer

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