“RESIGNATION”, an English word the French novelist Christian Oster would no doubt appreciate, presents an elegant paradox: in one sense, it indicated a bold step, a cleaving of oneself from an attachment grown onerous; in another, it's the height of ___, an acquiescence to fate. Asham...
Word History and Origins Origin ofresignation1 First recorded in1350–1400;Middle English,fromMiddle French,fromMedieval Latinresignātiōn-,stem ofresignātiō“cancellation, rescinding,” fromLatinresignāt(us)“canceled” (past participle ofresignāre“to open, release, cancel”;resign) +-iō-ion ...
late 14c., "give up (something), surrender, abandon, submit; relinquish (an office, position, right, claim)," from Old French resigner "renounce, relinquish" (13c.), from Latin resignare "to check off, annul, cancel, give back, give up," from re-, here perhaps denoting "opposite" ...