Relent
/rɪˈlɛnt/noun
To become less severe or less determined; to yield or soften.
Did you know?Relent comes from Latin roots meaning “to become soft again,” and in older English it could describe literal physical softening before it became a word for emotional yielding.
Etymological Timeline
Latin
Latin
lente
“softly, slowly”
Late Latin
Latin
relentare
“to soften again, make less tense”
Old French
Old French
relenter
“to soften, slacken”
Middle English
English
relenten
“to soften, abate, become less harsh”
Modern English
English
relent
“to yield or become less severe”