relocation

Etymology

In its legal sense, the renewal of a lease, it is borrowed from Late Latin relocātiō, from the past participle stem of relocō (“to let again”);^[2][3] compare Middle French relocation, recorded at the end of the 16th century.^[3] The later senses are formed from English re- + location,^[3][4] or from relocate with -ion.^[2][5][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Scots law, the renewal of a lease: about 1600, in Balfour's Practicks.^[3][2] Etymonline and the first edition of the OED date this sense to 1746.^[5][6]

Semantic evolution

The legal sense survives only in the phrase tacit relocation, the implied yearly renewal of a lease when a landlord lets a tenant stay on without a new agreement.^[3][2][4] The modern senses began in the United States: a reallocation of something, especially of an abandoned mining claim, from 1804, and the moving of something to a new place from 1834.^[3] Etymonline dates the sense "act of relocating" to 1837.^[5] It now most often means moving to a new place to live or work,^[3] and is common in compounds such as relocation expenses, which the OED first records in 1958.^[6][2]

Timeline

• c. 1600 – in Scots law, the renewal of a lease.^[3]
• 1804 – in the U.S., a reallocation, especially of a mining claim.^[3]
• 1834 – the moving of something to a new place (originally U.S.).^[3]
• 1958 – attributive use, as in relocation allowance.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act of moving, or being moved, to a new place, especially to live or work: The company paid for her relocation to Leeds.^[4][3][2]
2. (Scots law) The renewal of a lease, now only in tacit relocation, its implied renewal from year to year.^[3][2][4]
3. (U.S., mining) The reallocation of an abandoned claim.^[3]

Related words

• relocate
• location
• locate
• allocation

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press