rely

Pronunciation

• IPA: /rɪˈlaɪ/^[1]

Etymology

It is Middle English relien, borrowed from Old French relier (“to fasten, attach, rally, bind together”),^[2][3][4] from Latin religāre (“to fasten, bind fast”),^[2][3][5] from re-, here perhaps intensive, and ligāre (“to bind”) (see ligament),^[2][4][6] from PIE Proto-Indo-European *leyǵ- (“to tie, bind”).^[4] It is a doublet of rally, from the same Old French verb.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

To gather or assemble soldiers or followers, to rally: about 1330 in the OED,^[8] before 1338 in Mannyng's Chronicle in Barnhart,^[2] the mid-14th century in Etymonline.^[4]

Semantic evolution

NODE and Word Origins trace the sense from gathering together to turning to or associating with someone, and so to depending on them with confidence.^[6][9] To rally to or adhere to a person is from the 14th century,^[3] to trust to a person or thing from 1571,^[8] and to depend trustfully on someone or something from 1574 in Barnhart and the 1570s in Etymonline,^[2][4] perhaps by way of the notion of rallying to or falling back on.^[4] The usual construction with on may owe something to the unrelated verb lie, to rest.^[4] The older senses are now obsolete.^[4][8]

Timeline

• c. 1330 – to gather, rally.^[8]
• 14th century – to rally to, adhere to.^[3]
• 1574 – to depend, trust.^[2]

Modern meaning

Verb

1. (rely on, upon) To depend on for support, help or supply.
2. (rely on, upon) To have confidence or trust in.

Word family

• relier
• misrely
• reliable
• reliance
• reliant

Related words

• liable
• oblige
• rally
• ligament
• religion
• ally

Usage notes

The AHD compares rely with trust, depend and reckon, all meaning to place faith or confidence in someone or something; rely implies complete confidence.^[10]

References

1. ^ Jones, Daniel (2011), Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary, 18th ed., ed. Peter Roach, Jane Setter and John Esling, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
2. ^ a b c d e f Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
3. ^ a b c d Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
6. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
9. ^ Cresswell, Julia (2021), Oxford Dictionary of Word Origins, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (1992), 3rd ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin