List of 426 Sets of Synonyms - How they Differ - Total of 2307 Words - 322

SYNONYMS: relinquish, yield, resign, abandon, surrender, cede, waive, renounce.
These verbs have in common the sense of letting something go or giving something up.

Relinquish, the least specific, sometimes connotes unwillingness or regret: can't bear to relinquish the idea.
Yield implies giving way, as to pressure or superior authority, often in the hope that such action will be temporary: gradually had to yield ground.
Resign suggests unresisting submission or acquiescence, as that arising from hopelessness: was forced by the scandal to resign the office to which he had been elected.
Abandon and surrender agree in implying no expectation of returning to or recovering what is given up, but the terms differ in that surrender implies the operation of compulsion, demand, or force: abandoned all hope; refusing to surrender control.
Cede connotes formal transfer, as of rights or territory: a province ceded by treaty.
Waive implies a voluntary decision to dispense with something, such as a claim or right: waived all privileges.
To renounce is to relinquish something formally and usually as a matter of principle: renounced his claim to the estate.