Relax

Relax

Verb · /rɪˈlæks/ · to make or become less tense, anxious, or rigid; to rest; to make rules or controls less strict

Definition

To relax means to release tension — physical, mental, or structural. Your muscles relax after exercise. Your mind relaxes after stress. Rules relax when enforcement becomes less strict. In every case, something that was tight, rigid, or tense is allowed to loosen, soften, or ease. Relax is the verb of letting go — deliberately, beneficially, and often with relief.

Origin

From Latin relaxare — re- (again, thoroughly) + laxare (to loosen), from laxus (loose, slack). To relax is literally to loosen thoroughly. The word entered English in the 15th century first in the physical sense — muscles, bowels, bodily tension — and later expanded to the mental, emotional, and regulatory senses that dominate today. The modern usage as an instruction — relax! — emerged in the 19th century.