Etymograph

English

relax

Relax comes from Latin relaxāre ‘relax, loosen, open’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *(s)leg-s-ós ‘weak, faint’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)leg-s-ós1‘weak, faint’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElaxus2‘loose, free’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElaxāre2‘loosen’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErelaxāre2‘relax, loosen, open’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400relaxer2
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500relaxen2‘loosen, make (something) less compact or dense’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1667relax2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin laxus
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English relax
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book VIII: “Horror […] all his joynts relax'd.”.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*(s)leg-s-ósWiktionary, Latin laxus‘weak, faint’reconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElaxusWiktionary, English relax‘loose, free’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElaxāreWiktionary, English relax‘loosen’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErelaxāreWiktionary, English relax‘relax, loosen, open’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400relaxerWiktionary, English relax
  6. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500relaxenWiktionary, English relax‘loosen, make (something) less compact or dense’
  7. Englishearliest quotation 1667relaxWiktionary, English relax. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1667, John Milton, Book VIII: “Horror […] all his joynts relax'd.”

Equivalent to re- + lax ‘open, free, loose’

Proto-Italic *wre- ‘again’

English re-

Proto-Indo-European *laḱs- ‘salmon, trout’

Proto-Germanic *lahsaz ‘salmon’

Proto-West Germanic *lahs ‘salmon’

Old English leax ‘salmon’

Middle English lax ‘salmon’

English lax

Linked words

through Latin laxus ‘loose, free’

release, leash, relish, lax, laxity, 5 more

Today it means

verb To make something loose.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “relax”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin laxus. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *(s)leg-s-ós / relax

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