Etymograph

English

resign

Resign comes from Latin resignāre ‘to unseal, annul, assign, resign’, from signō ‘to seal, stamp’, and ultimately from Proto-Italic *segnom ‘sign’.

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*segnom1‘sign’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*segnāō1reconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsignō2as signāre‘to seal, stamp’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEresignāre2‘to unseal, annul, assign, resign’
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400resigner2
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1603resign2

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, Latin signo
  2. 2 Wiktionary, English resign
  3. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “And if the perfection of well-speaking might bring any…”.

Earlier history uncertain. See Wiktionary.

Lineage

  1. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*segnomWiktionary, Latin signo‘sign’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*segnāōWiktionary, Latin signoreconstructed
  3. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEsignōWiktionary, English resignas signāre‘to seal, stamp’
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEresignāreWiktionary, English resign‘to unseal, annul, assign, resign’
  5. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400resignerWiktionary, English resign
  6. Englishearliest quotation 1603resignWiktionary, English resign. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1603, Michel de Montaigne, The Essayes […]: “And if the perfection of well-speaking might bring any…”

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *sek- ‘to cut’

saw, sex, risk, section, ship, sexual, segment, sack, insect, scarlet, sawyer, sealing, sax, het, shingle, sickle, dissect, scythe, seg, sedge, sich, brassica, desiccation, desiccant, 49 more

through Proto-Italic *segnom ‘sign’

significant, seal, signal, significance, signify, ensign, insignia, signet, sigil, signification, 14 more

through Proto-Italic *segnāō

designation, assignation, 5 more

through Latin signō ‘to seal, stamp’

design, assign, sain, consign, 7 more

Today it means

verb To give up; to relinquish ownership of.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “resign”; the older steps come from the Wiktionary entry for Latin signo. 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-Italic *segnom / resign

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