Release

Release

Verb & Noun · /rɪˈliːs/ · to set free; to make available; to allow something held back to go forward

Definition

To release means to let go — of a prisoner, a product, a tension, a sound, a document, or a breath. As a verb, you release a hostage, release a new version of software, release pressure from a valve, release a statement to the press. As a noun, a release is the thing that is freed or published — a press release, a software release, a new music release. The word covers both the act and its result.

Origin

From Old French relesser and Latin relaxare — to loosen, set free. The same Latin root that gives us relax also gives us release. But where relax loosens gradually, release is the moment of letting go entirely — the hand opening, the bolt sliding back, the gate swinging wide. It entered English in the 13th century in its legal sense: the release of a prisoner or a debt.