relegate
[rel-i-geyt]
- to send or consign to an inferior position, place, or condition: He has been relegated to a post at the fringes of the diplomatic service.
- to consign or commit (a matter, task, etc.), as to a person: He relegates the less pleasant tasks to his assistant.
- to assign or refer (something) to a particular class or kind.
- to send into exile; banish.
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Origin of relegate
Synonyms
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comDictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
deportationtransmissionrelocationremovaldistributionexpulsionevictiondisplacementextraditiondumpingdispositiontransferclearancedemolitiondestructionembargoomissionrejectionvetorefusalExamples from the Web for relegation
Contemporary Examples
Our bookstores would surely be more drab and austere in their absence or their relegation to the annals of world literature.
Historical Examples
After the doom of relegation is expired, he comes hither at midsummer.
Imaginary Conversations and PoemsWalter Savage Landor
His disgrace and relegation to his see, in 1529, could not but stimulate this tendency.
A History of The Inquisition of Spain; vol. 2,Henry Charles Lea
The motion was lost, and his relegation to Canea and a years imprisonment were voted.
Venice and its StoryThomas Okey
She, who so longed for a first place, seemed doomed to relegation to the ranks.
ConsequencesE. M. Delafield
In September 1697 he went to Civita Vecchia under sentence of three years' relegation.
The Old Yellow BookAnonymous
relegate
- to move to a position of less authority, importance, etc; demote
- (usually passive) mainly British to demote (a football team, etc) to a lower division
- to assign or refer (a matter) to another or others, as for action or decision
- (foll by to) to banish or exile
- to assign (something) to a particular group or category
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin relēgāre to send away, from re- + lēgāre to send
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for relegation
n.
1580s, from Latin relegationem (nominative relegatio), noun of action from past participle stem of relegare (see relegate).
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relegate
v.
1590s "to banish, send into exile," from Latin relegatus, past participle of relegare "remove, dismiss, banish, send away, schedule, put aside," from re- "back" (see re-) + legare "send with a commission" (see legate). Meaning "place in a position of inferiority" is recorded from 1790. Related: Relegated; relegating; relegable.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper