Etymograph

English

relief

Relief comes from Old French relief ‘assistance’, from relever ‘to relieve’, from Latin relevō ‘to raise up, lighten’, from levis ‘light’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElevis1‘light, not heavy’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElevō2‘to lift, raise; to lighten’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErelevō1as relevare‘to raise up’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400relever1‘to relieve’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400relief1‘assistance’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1897relief1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English relief
  2. 2 Wiktionary, Latin relevo
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1897, Winston Churchill: “Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElevisWiktionary, English relief‘light, not heavy’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElevōWiktionary, Latin relevo‘to lift, raise; to lighten’
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErelevōWiktionary, English reliefas relevare‘to raise up’
  4. Old Frenchc. 842–1400releverWiktionary, English relief‘to relieve’
  5. Old Frenchc. 842–1400reliefWiktionary, English relief‘assistance’
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1897reliefWiktionary, English relief. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1897, Winston Churchill: “Although the Celebrity was almost impervious to sarcasm, he…”

Linked words

through Latin levō

elevator, elevation, lever, elevate, leaven, 22 more

through Latin relevo ‘to raise up, make light’

relevant, 5 more

Another origin of relief

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElevō
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErelevō‘to raise’
  3. Italianc. 1300–presentrilevare‘to raise’
  4. Italianc. 1300–presentrilievo‘relief (etymology 2)’
  5. Englishtodayrelief

Today it means

noun The removal of stress or discomfort.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “relief”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin relevo. 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 / Latin levis / relief

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