relax

English

Etymology

From Middle English relaxen, from Old French relaxer, from Latin relaxāre (“relax, loosen, open”), from re- (“back”) + laxāre (“loosen”), from laxus (“loose, free”).

A man relaxing and reading a book.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈlæks/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æks

Verb

relax (third-person singular simple present relaxes, present participle relaxing, simple past and past participle relaxed)

1. (transitive) To calm down.
2. (transitive) To make something loose.

   to relax a rope or cord

   to relax the muscles or sinews

   • 1667, John Milton, “Book VIII”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished as Paradise Lost in Ten Books: […], London: Basil Montagu Pickering […], 1873, →OCLC:

     Horror […] all his joynts relax'd.

3. (intransitive) To become loose.
   • 2016, VOA Learning English (public domain)

     I relax in the living room.

     Audio (US):

     (file)

4. (transitive) To make something less severe or tense.

   to relax discipline

   to relax one's attention or endeavours

5. (intransitive) To become less severe or tense.
6. (transitive) To make something (such as codes and regulations) more lenient.
   • 1713, Jonathan Swift, A Preface to Bishop Burnet's Introduction:

     The statute of mortmain […] was at several times relaxed by the legislature.

   • 1953, “Section 2. Jurisdiction”, in Edward Samuel Corwin, editor, The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation‎^[1], page 589:

     The Court rejected the contention that the doctrine of sovereign immunity should be relaxed as inapplicable to suits for specific relief as distinguished from damage suits, saying: "The Government, as representative of the community as a whole, cannot be stopped in its tracks by any plaintiff who presents a disputed question of property or contract right."

7. (intransitive, of codes and regulations) To become more lenient.
8. (transitive) To relieve (something) from stress.

   Amusement relaxes the mind.

9. (transitive, dated) To relieve from constipation; to loosen; to open.

   An aperient relaxes the bowels.

Antonyms

• stress, excite

Derived terms

• relaxable
• overrelax, underrelax

Related terms

• relaxation

Translations

to calm down

• Armenian: հանգստանալ (hy) (hangstanal)
• Bulgarian: успокоявам се (uspokojavam se)
• Catalan: relaxar-se (ca)
• Danish: falde til ro, slappe af (da)
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: rauhoittaa (fi)
• French: détendre (fr), se relaxer (fr)
• Galician: relaxar (gl)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: relaxen (de), runterkommen, beruhigen (de)
• Greek: χαλαρώνω (el) (chalaróno)

  Ancient: χαυνόω (khaunóō)

• Hungarian: megnyugszik (hu)
• Irish: lig do scíth
• Italian: rilassarsi (it), riposarsi (it)
• Japanese: 落ち着く (ja) (ochitsuku)
• Khmer: បន្ធូរអារម្មណ៍ (bɑntʰuu aarɑm)
• Mongolian: please add this translation if you can
• Polish: relaksować się impf
• Portuguese: relaxar (pt)
• Romanian: relaxa (ro), destinde (ro)
• Spanish: relajar (es), reposar (es)
• Swedish: förslappa (sv)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: заспоко́юватись (zaspokójuvatysʹ)
• Vietnamese: bình tĩnh (vi)

to make something loose

• Arabic: اِسْتَرْخَى (istarḵā)

  Hijazi Arabic: هِدي (hidi)

  Moroccan Arabic: طْلق (ṭləq)

• Bulgarian: разхлабвам (bg) (razhlabvam)
• Catalan: relaxar (ca), afluixar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 放鬆／放松 (zh) (fàngsōng)

• Czech: uvolnit (cs)
• Dutch: losmaken (nl)
• Finnish: löysentää (fi), löysätä (fi)
• French: relâcher (fr)
• Galician: relaxar (gl)
• German: lockern (de), entspannen (de)
• Ido: laxigar (io)
• Japanese: くつろがせる (kutsurogaseru)
• Latin: relaxō
• Maori: whakakorokoro, whakangoru, whakatangatanga
• Norwegian: slappe av
• Polish: rozluźnić (pl) pf, poluzować
• Portuguese: soltar (pt), afrouxar (pt)
• Romanian: relaxa (ro), destinde (ro), desface (ro)
• Russian: расслабля́ть (ru) impf (rasslabljátʹ), рассла́бить (ru) pf (rasslábitʹ)
• Spanish: relajar (es), aflojar (es)
• Walloon: laispi (wa), låtchî (wa), distinkyî (wa)
• Welsh: llacio (cy)

to become loose

• Arabic: اِسْتَرْخَى (istarḵā)
• Bulgarian: разхлабвам се (razhlabvam se)
• Catalan: relaxar-se (ca), afluixar-se (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 放鬆／放松 (zh) (fàngsōng)

• Czech: ^{(please verify)} uvolnit se (cs)
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} losser worden
• Esperanto: malstreĉiĝi
• Finnish: rentoutua (fi), rauhoittua (fi), löystyä (fi)
• German: ^{(please verify)} locker werden
• Ido: laxeskar (io)
• Japanese: くつろぐ (ja) (kutsurogu)
• Portuguese: soltar (pt), afrouxar (pt)
• Russian: расслабля́ться (ru) impf (rasslabljátʹsja), рассла́биться (ru) pf (rasslábitʹsja)
• Spanish: relajar (es)
• Ukrainian: розслабля́тися (rozslabljátysja), розсла́битися (rozslábytysja)
• Welsh: ymlacio (cy)

to make something less severe or tense

• Bulgarian: отпускам (bg) (otpuskam), смекчавам (bg) (smekčavam)
• Catalan: relaxar (ca)
• Dutch: ontspannen (nl)
• Finnish: höllentää (fi), löyhentää
• German: entspannen (de), lockern (de)
• Japanese: 落ち着かせる (ochitsukaseru), 和らげる (ja) (yawarageru), (phrase) 緊張を解く (kinchō wo toku)
• Polish: rozluźnić (pl) pf, poluzować pf
• Portuguese: relaxar (pt)
• Romanian: relaxa (ro)
• Russian: ослабля́ть (ru) impf (oslabljátʹ), осла́бить (ru) pf (oslábitʹ), распуска́ть (ru) impf (raspuskátʹ), распусти́ть (ru) pf (raspustítʹ)
• Spanish: relajar (es)
• Ukrainian: послабля́ти (poslabljáty)

to become less severe or tense

• Bulgarian: отпускам се (otpuskam se)
• Catalan: relaxar (ca)
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} ontspannen (nl), ^{(please verify)} losser worden
• Esperanto: senstreĉiĝi
• Finnish: rentoutua (fi), rauhoittua (fi), löystyä (fi), relata (fi) (slang)
• French: se détendre (fr)
• German: ^{(please verify)} entspannen (de), ^{(please verify)} locker werden
• Japanese: 落ち着く (ja) (ochitsuku), (phrase) 緊張を解く (kinchō o toku), (colloquial) ほっとする (hotto suru)
• Maori: whakanā
• Polish: rozluźnić się (pl) pf
• Portuguese: relaxar (pt)
• Romanian: relaxa (ro)
• Russian: распуска́ться (ru) impf (raspuskátʹsja), распусти́ться (ru) pf (raspustítʹsja)
• Spanish: relajar (es)
• Welsh: ymlacio (cy)

to make something (such as codes and regulations) more lenient

• Catalan: relaxar (ca), afluixar (ca)
• Czech: uvolnit (cs)
• Dutch: ontspannen (nl)
• Finnish: höllentää (fi)
• German: entspannen (de), lockern (de)
• Japanese: 緩和する (kanwa suru), 緩める (ja) (yurumeru)
• Mandarin: 緩和／缓和 (zh) (huǎnhé), 缓和 (zh) (huǎnhé)
• Polish: łagodzić (pl) impf
• Russian: смягча́ть (ru) impf (smjaxčátʹ), смягчи́ть (ru) pf (smjaxčítʹ)
• Spanish: relajar (es)
• Telugu: సడలించు (te) (saḍaliñcu)

to become more lenient

• Catalan: relaxar-se (ca)
• Dutch: ^{(please verify)} ontspannen (nl), ^{(please verify)} losser worden
• Finnish: höllentyä, hölletä
• German: ^{(please verify)} entspannen (de), ^{(please verify)} locker werden
• Japanese: 緩和する (kanwa suru), 緩める (ja) (yurumeru)
• Romanian: relaxa (ro)
• Russian: смягча́ться (ru) impf (smjaxčátʹsja), смягчи́ться (ru) pf (smjaxčítʹsja)
• Spanish: relajar (es)

to relieve (something) from stress

• Bulgarian: отпускам (bg) (otpuskam), разпускам (bg) (razpuskam)
• Catalan: relaxar (ca)
• Dutch: ontspannen (nl)
• Finnish: rentouttaa
• German: entspannen (de)
• Italian: rilassare (it)
• Japanese: 落ち着かせる (ochitsukaseru), 和らげる (ja) (yawarageru), (phrase) 緊張を解く (kinchō o toku)
• Latin: relaxō
• Maori: whakatakupe
• Portuguese: relaxar (pt)
• Romanian: relaxa (ro)
• Russian: расслабля́ть (ru) impf (rasslabljátʹ), рассла́бить (ru) pf (rasslábitʹ)
• Spanish: relajarse (es), estar de relax

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Hungarian: ^{(please verify)} kipihenni magát, ^{(please verify)} kikapcsolódni
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} rilassare (it)
• Korean: ^{(please verify)} 늦추다 (ko) (neutchuda)
• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} slappna av (sv), ^{(please verify)} koppla av (sv)
• Volapük: ^{(please verify)} takädön (vo)

Anagrams

• laxer, raxle

French

Alternative forms

• relaxe

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁə.laks/
• Homophone: relaxe

Adjective

relax (feminine relaxe, masculine plural relax, feminine plural relaxes)

1. relaxed

   Synonyms: calme, décontracté, détendu, serein, zen

Further reading

• “relax”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
• “relax” in Dictionnaire français en ligne Larousse.

Italian

Etymology

Pseudo-anglicism, a clipping of relaxation.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /reˈlaks/
• Rhymes: -aks
• Hyphenation: re‧làx

Noun

relax m (invariable)

1. relaxation (mental or physical)

Spanish

Etymology

Pseudo-anglicism, shortening of English relaxation or erroneous borrowing of English relax.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /reˈlaɡs/ [reˈlaɣ̞s]
• Rhymes: -aɡs
• Syllabification: re‧lax

Noun

relax m (uncountable)

1. relaxation

Derived terms

• estar de relax

 

Further reading

• “relax”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.7, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2023 November 28