From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishrelinquishre‧lin‧quish /rɪˈlɪŋkwɪʃ/ verb [transitive] formalGIVE to let someone else have your position, power, or rights, especially unwillingly SYN give up No one wants to relinquish power once they have it.relinquish something to somebody Stultz relinquished control to his subordinate.→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
relinquish• Captain Weiss will relinquish command after this mission.• Slowly, states are beginning to relinquish control of their energy industries.• He relinquished her hand and stood, stretching the tiredness from his muscles.• The prince was persuaded to relinquish his claim to the throne.• Vanreenen relinquished his membership and served as secretary for six years; the Honorable Company prohibits members from working for the club.• Finally, Franco simply did not want to relinquish his position.• The United States is pressing the rebel army to relinquish power.• Britain was pulling out and relinquishing responsibility there within thirty days.• This is a very fine work and one regrets that, in later life, he relinquished the oil medium.• Equally some parents in the study quoted above, wanted to say good-bye and relinquish their children in a positive sense.relinquish something to somebody• Single mother Lisa had relinquished her baby to her parents.Origin relinquish (1400-1500) Old French relinquir, from Latin relinquere “to leave behind”, from linquere “to leave” 