Where does “resign” come from?

Resign comes from Latin re- (again) combined with signum (mark or seal), passing through English sign and Japanese サイン before returning to English.

resign (English): To give up; to relinquish ownership of; To hand...

Definitions

  1. To give up; to relinquish ownership of; To hand...

Ancestry of “resign”, step by step

resign traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via English sign

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishsignA visible indication; Physical evidence left by...
2Middle Englishsigne—
3Old Englishseġnsign; mark; token
4Latinsignumvisible indication: sign, mark, signal; seal,...
5Proto-Italicseknomsign
6Proto-Indo-Europeansek-to cut, cut off, sever

via Anglo-Norman resigner

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Anglo-Normanresignerto resign; to give up
2Latinresignāre—
3Latinsignāre—

Words derived from “resign”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European sek- →