English edit

Etymology edit

Back-formation from relinquish; compare Latin linquō.

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

linquish (third-person singular simple present linquishes, present participle linquishing, simple past and past participle linquished)

  1. (obsolete, rare) To relinquish; to give up.
    • 1591, Ludovico Ariosto, translated by Sir John Harington, Orlando Furioso, London: G. Miller, translation of original in Italian, published 1634, book XXXIX, stanza 18, page 326:
      But now a while I linquiſh this conflict, / And paſſe beyond the ſeas without a backe []
    • 1595, B. H., The Glaſſe of Mans Folly [] [1], London: Thomas Creede:
      They pittie not their owne ſpirituall miſery how Satan deludes them of the Beniſſon; but are foggie, full of feſtiuitie, loth to linquiſh, like to languiſh, and illiterated []
    • 1737, François Rabelais, “Book V”, in Peter Anthony Motteux, Sir Thomas Urquhart, transl., The Works of Mr. Francois Rabelais [] [2], volume 2, Navarre Society, published 1921, page 438:
      For, shou'd you come before the Brume's abated / Th' Opime you'd linquish for the Macerated.