surrender means to give up into the power, control, or possession of another. It carries an Arena rating of 1730, earned across 9 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, surrender ranks #205 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #816 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #900 of 17,127 for Words That Escaped Their Books, #2,572 of 17,131 for Scariest Words.
surrender is pronounced /səˈɹɛndə(ɹ)/.
Why “surrender” is a great word
To give up or yield oneself, a possession, or a position to the authority, control, or power of another. From Middle English surrendren, from Anglo-Norman and Old French surrendre, combining sur- ("over") and rendre ("to render, give back"), it displaced the native Old English handgang and was first attested in English in the early 15th century. Unlike "capitulate," which implies a formal, often negotiated cessation in conflict, or "resign," which suggests a voluntary and formal stepping aside, surrender is the raw, unadorned act of giving over. It is the white flag glimpsed through gunsmoke, the sagging of tense shoulders after a long resistance, the quiet release of a breath you did not know you were holding—the profound archaeology of a defeat that, in its finality, becomes a strange and quiet warmth.
Etymology
From Middle English surrendren, from Old French surrendre, from sur- + rendre (“render”). Displaced native Old English on hand gān.
verb
- To give up into the power, control, or possession of another.
- To yield (a town, a fortification, etc.) to an enemy.
- To give oneself up into the power of another, especially as a prisoner; to submit or give in.e.g.“Don't shoot! I surrender!”
- To give up possession of; to yield; to resign.e.g.“to surrender a right, privilege, or advantage”
- To yield (oneself) to an influence, emotion, passion, etc.e.g.“to surrender oneself to grief, to despair, to indolence, or to sleep”
- To abandon (one's hand of cards) and recover half of the initial bet.
- For a policyholder, to voluntarily terminate an insurance contract before the end of its term, usually with the expectation of receiving a surrender value.
noun
- An act of surrendering, submission into the possession of another; a feeling of abandonment and resignation; the deliberate cessation of struggle over outcomes.
- The yielding or delivery of a possession in response to a demand.
- The yielding of the leasehold estate by the lessee to the landlord, so that the tenancy for years merges in the reversion and no longer exists.
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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