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

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

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

Plants rely on it during photosynthesis to harvest light, while animals use related processes to efficiently convert food into energy.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 6, 2026

The monthslong conflict between Iran and the U.S. has curbed the flow of goods through the Strait of Hormuz, a waterway many countries rely on for imports of critical inputs like fertilizers and natural gas.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026

Asked about the situation on Monday, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters to "rely on Rospotrebnadzor's official statements rather than... rumours and speculations".

From Barron's ● Oct. 5, 2026

BT chief executive Alison Kirkby said the deal provided "a safety net for the households and businesses who rely on TalkTalk".

From BBC ● Oct. 5, 2026

“Maybe we should just rely on the adults here.”

From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro

Producing hydrogen by splitting water with a catalyst can be cleaner than the dominant industrial method, which relies on natural gas.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 4, 2026

The Washington region has the second-largest Salvadoran population in the U.S., after Los Angeles, and the construction industry relies significantly on workers with TPS.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 3, 2026

As a result, the UK relies on imports for just under half of the diesel it uses.

From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026

The aircraft relies on the software and has been expected to soon win approval to fly passengers.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

Japanese music relies on subtle changes and exploration of timbre rather than continuous sound.

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

She said farmers often had generational businesses and relied on markets and trade with others, adding that raising abuse could affect livelihoods.

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

Our team has relied on media coverage and trained student coders to flag ads that are potentially AI-generated.

From Salon ● Oct. 6, 2026

The rest of the world has relied heavily on U.S. diesel, with much of Middle Eastern and Russian exports blocked from the market.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2026

A major part of the research relied on miBrains, three dimensional human brain tissue developed by the Mount Sinai team from induced pluripotent stem cells.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026

Barack and I both relied on our personal faith as well.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Hernandez said the city may need to raise fees to those other entities instead of relying only on city ratepayers.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 2, 2026

In other words, rather than relying only on factors such as cholesterol, smoking and blood pressure to calculate someone's future cardiovascular risk, the researchers want to determine whether plaque is already present.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026

Igor Yelnik, founder of Alphidence Capital, a London-based global macro hedge fund, noted that funds are relying on leverage—essentially, borrowed money—more than the last time when rates were this high.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

Even if rates don’t go up, someone relying too much on fixed income could find themselves lacking the liquidity needed for an unexpected emergency expense, such as a medical bill or home maintenance.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026

“That gets us through tomorrow,” I said, “and then were back to relying on the distiller Dri put together.”

From "Adrift" by Paul Griffin