relish

C2+ Topic:Actions & Processes

US /ˈrɛlɪʃ/ UK /ˈrɛlɪʃ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

verb
to enjoy greatly; a savory condiment or keen enjoyment

She relished every moment of her hard-won victory.

Verb forms

Verb forms are not available for this word yet.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to enjoy greatly; a savory... enjoy savor appreciate gusto zest delight condiment

Opposites

dislike loathe detest

Word family

Forms relishingly

Derived forms relishable

Related forms release

Simplified etymology

Relish is an alteration of the obsolete word reles, from Old French reles, “remainder.” Its early noun sense was an odor or taste left behind; this developed into “appetizing or piquant flavor” in the late 16th century and then “condiment” in the early 19th century.

Etymology

From Middle English reles ('taste, aftertaste'), from Old French reles ('something left behind, aftertaste'), from relaisser ('to leave behind, release'), from Latin relaxare ('to loosen').

reles Old French relaxare Latin laxare Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# relish

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /ˈrɛlɪʃ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈrɛlɪʃ/

## Meanings
1. to enjoy greatly; a savory condiment or keen enjoyment

## Examples
- She relished every moment of her hard-won victory.

## Synonyms
- enjoy
- savor
- appreciate
- gusto
- zest
- delight
- condiment

## Antonyms
- dislike
- loathe
- detest

## Derived Forms
- relishable

## Related Forms
- release

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: reles
- Root: relaxare
- Root: laxare

## Etymology
From Middle English reles ('taste, aftertaste'), from Old French reles ('something left behind, aftertaste'), from relaisser ('to leave behind, release'), from Latin relaxare ('to loosen').

## AI Etymology
Relish comes from Middle English reles ('taste, aftertaste'), from Old French reles ('something left behind, aftertaste'), from relaisser ('to leave behind, release'), from Latin relaxare ('to loosen'). The historical chain includes Old French reles, Latin relaxare, and Latin laxare. Older glosses in the chain include "taste, aftertaste", "something left behind, aftertaste", "to leave behind, release", and "to loosen", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, relish is best read as borrowing, yielding an English verb and noun shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as a verb and noun, with the sense "to enjoy greatly; a savory condiment or keen enjoyment". English derivatives include relishable; related forms include release. The result is an English verb and noun whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Actions & Processes
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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