resignation
/rɛzɪɡˈneɪʃ(ə)n
/noun
1An act of resigning from a job or office: he announced his resignation...
- He remained in office until his resignation in March 1971.
- Several high-profile resignations and retirements have hit hospitals in recent months.
- Other officers had announced their resignation from the committee.
Synonyms
departure, leaving, standing down, stepping down, retirement;
giving up, vacating, relinquishment, renunciation, surrender, abdication
informal quitting
archaic demission
1.1A document conveying someone’s intention of resigning: I’ve handed in my resignation...
- He apparently felt that including his resignation in this document would bring the matter to a head.
- He has sent the authority a resignation letter signalling his intention to quit from next Monday.
- He will succeeded in persuading them either to take their resignations back or will not send them to the chief minister for onward transmission to Governor for acceptance.
Synonyms
notice, notice to quit, letter of resignation
1.2 Chess An act of ending a game by conceding defeat without being checkmated.New analysis has now come to light on what may have been a premature resignation in game 6....
- In chess, resignation is signaled by tipping over one's king.
- The computer won its match with human World Chess Champion Kasparov by causing his resignation in Game 6 after only 19 moves, after what had been an even contest to that point.
2 [mass noun] The acceptance of something undesirable but inevitable: a shrug of resignation...
- This short final excursion cost poor Cherub but I could see resignation and acceptance in both Belinda and Cherub upon their return.
- His final illness was accepted with resignation, courage and good humour.
- This doesn't seem to have come from apathy or resignation at the inevitability of this war.
Synonyms
patience, forbearance, tolerance, stoicism, endurance, fortitude, sufferance, lack of protest, lack of complaint, acceptance of the inevitable, fatalism, acceptance, acquiescence, compliance, passivity, passiveness, non-resistance, submission, docility, phlegm
rare longanimity
Origin
Late Middle English: via Old French from medieval Latin resignatio(n-), from resignare 'unseal, cancel' (see resign).