Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To become more lenient, compassionate, or forgiving. synonym: yield.
  • intransitive verb To become less severe or intense; slacken.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Remission; stay.
  • noun Relenting.
  • To slacken; stay.
  • To soften in substance; lose compactness; become less rigid or hard.
  • To deliquesce; dissolve; melt; fade away.
  • To become less severe or intense; relax.
  • To become less harsh, cruel, or obdurate; soften in temper; become more mild and tender; give way; yield; comply; feel compassion.
  • To slacken; remit; stay; a bate.
  • To soften; mollify; dissolve.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun obsolete Stay; stop; delay.
  • intransitive verb obsolete To become less rigid or hard; to yield; to dissolve; to melt; to deliquesce.
  • intransitive verb To become less severe or intense; to become less hard, harsh, cruel, or the like; to soften in temper; to become more mild and tender; to feel compassion.
  • transitive verb obsolete To slacken; to abate.
  • transitive verb obsolete To soften; to dissolve.
  • transitive verb obsolete To mollify ; to cause to be less harsh or severe.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Stay; stop; delay.
  • verb To become less severe or intense; to become less hard, harsh, or cruel; to soften in temper; to become more mild and tender; to feel compassion.
  • verb To slacken; to abate.
  • verb obsolete, transitive To lessen, make less severe or fast.
  • verb dated To become less rigid or hard; to soften; to yield; to dissolve; to melt; to deliquesce.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb give in, as to influence or pressure

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Middle English relenten, to melt, from Anglo-Norman relenter, from relent, damp : Latin re-, re- + Latin lentus, sticky, slow.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin re- + lentus.

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Examples

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  • reLEnT

    April 29, 2008