relay

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɹiːleɪ/^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English relai, borrowed from Middle French relai (“reserve pack of hounds”),^[2][3][4] from relaier (“to exchange tired animals for fresh; to leave behind”),^[2][3] from re- (“back”) and laier (“to leave”) (see delay),^[2][3][5] perhaps a variant of Old French laissier, from Latin laxō (“to slacken”) (see lax).^[3][4][6] Watkins instead derives it from Frankish *laibjan.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Hounds placed along a line of chase to replace tired ones: 1369, in Chaucer's Book of the Duchess, in Barnhart, the late 14th century in Etymonline.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

The verb, to take a fresh horse, is probably from before 1400,^[2] and to supply fresh hounds from about 1410.^[2][7] A set of fresh horses kept ready at stages along a route is from 1659,^[7] and a set of people relieving others from 1808.^[7][4] The word seemed to fade out by the 19th century but was revived in electromagnetics:^[3] a device by which a weak current switches a stronger circuit is from 1860,^[2][7] and to pass on a message by relays from 1878.^[2][3] The relay race is from 1898.^[2][7]

Timeline

• 1369 – a relay of hounds.^[2]
• 1659 – fresh horses at stages.^[7]
• 1860 – an electrical relay.^[2][7]
• 1878 – to relay a message.^[2]
• 1898 – relay race.^[2][7]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. A race between teams in which each member runs part of the distance; a relay race.
2. A device in which a small current or voltage change switches another circuit.
3. A group of people or animals that takes over from another, as on a shift.
4. The act of passing something along from one person or station to another.

Verb

1. To pass on a message or information; to broadcast or retransmit a signal.

Word family

• relay race

Related words

• delay
• lax
• release

Usage notes

Relay, to lay again (re-lay), is a separate formation from 1590.^[5]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
5. ^ a b Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press