relaxation

/rilækˈseɪʃɪn/

/rilæksˈeɪʃən/

Other forms: relaxations

The noun relaxation describes the act of making something less strict. If your boss announces a relaxation of the company dress code, that means lots of happy people will be wearing jeans to work.

Relaxation carries many shades of meaning. It can describe being free from responsibility, like a relaxation of your usual obligations that comes while you're on vacation. The feeling of rest and peacefulness that can come from this freedom is also called relaxation. It comes from Latin: re- means "again," laxare means "loosen," and the suffix -ation means "the state of." So relaxation is the state of loosening something again.

Definitions of relaxation

1. noun

   freedom from activity (work or strain or responsibility)
   synonyms: ease, repose, rest

   types:

   bed rest, bedrest

   confinement to bed continuously (as in the case of some sick or injured persons)

   laziness

   relaxed and easy activity

   lie-in

   a long stay in bed in the morning

   dormancy, quiescence, quiescency, sleeping

   quiet and inactive restfulness

   leisure

   freedom to choose a pastime or enjoyable activity

   vegetation

   inactivity that is passive and monotonous, comparable to the inactivity of plant life

   vacationing

   the act of taking a vacation

   type of:

   inactivity

   being inactive; being less active
2. noun

   a feeling of refreshing tranquility and an absence of tension or worry
   synonyms: easiness

   types:

   dreaminess, languor

   a relaxed comfortable feeling

   type of:

   quietness, quietude, tranquility, tranquillity

   a state of peace and quiet
3. noun

   the act of making less strict
   synonyms: liberalisation, liberalization

   type of:

   alleviation, easement, easing, relief

   the act of reducing something unpleasant (as pain or annoyance)
4. noun

   an occurrence of control or strength weakening
   “the relaxation of requirements”

   synonyms: loosening, slackening

   types:

   thaw

   a relaxation or slackening of tensions or reserve; becoming less hostile

   type of:

   weakening

   becoming weaker
5. noun

   (physiology) the gradual lengthening of inactive muscle or muscle fibers
   type of:

   growth, increase, increment

   a process of becoming larger or longer or more numerous or more important
6. noun

   (physics) the exponential return of a system to equilibrium after a disturbance
   synonyms: relaxation behavior

   type of:

   exponential decay, exponential return

   a decrease that follows an exponential function
7. noun

   a method of solving simultaneous equations by guessing a solution and then reducing the errors that result by successive approximations until all the errors are less than some specified amount
   synonyms: relaxation method

   type of:

   mathematical operation, mathematical process, operation

   (mathematics) calculation by mathematical methods