relaxation

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin relaxatio, relaxationis; equivalent to relax +‎ -ation.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌɹilækˈseɪʃən/, /ˌɹɪlækˈseɪʃən/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

relaxation (countable and uncountable, plural relaxations)

1. The act of relaxing or the state of being relaxed; the opposite of stress or tension; the aim of recreation and leisure activities.
2. A diminution of tone, tension, or firmness; specifically in pathology: a looseness; a diminution of the natural and healthy tone of parts.

   relaxation of the soft palate

3. Remission or abatement of rigor.
4. Remission of attention or application.

   relaxation of efforts

   • 1989 December 3, Michael De Mayo, “A New Word In AIDS Prevention: Relapse”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 21, page 16:

     It may seem as though the safer sex message gets overplayed, stressed too much; it may have even become tired. Nonetheless, it has become evident that to abandon that message now would create complacency among people at risk for HIV infection. The end result would be a relaxation of life-saving techniques. We would be faced with a new generation of individuals testing antibody positive.

5. Unbending; recreation; a state or occupation intended to give mental or bodily relief after effort.
6. (physics) The transition of a nucleus, atom or molecule from a higher energy level to a lower one; the opposite of excitation
7. (music) The release following musical tension.

References

• William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “relaxation”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

relaxation f (plural relaxations)

1. relaxation

Further reading

• “relaxation”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.