relegate

Etymology 1

First attested in 1561, borrowed from Latin relēgātus, the past participle of relēgō (“to dispatch, banish”).

verb

1. Exile, banish, remove, or send away.
   1. (transitive, done to a person) Exile or banish to a particular place.
   2. (reflexive, obsolete, rare) Remove (oneself) to a distance from something or somewhere.
   3. (transitive, historical, Ancient Rome, done to a person) Banish from proximity to Rome for a set time; compare relegate.
      Eventually his freedom of speech drove Vespasian to relegate him a second time, and shortly after he was executed […]. 2002, Mark Morford, The Roman Philosophers, page 183
   4. (transitive, figurative) Remove or send to a place far away.
2. (transitive, in extended use) Consign or assign.
   1. Consign (a person or thing) to a place, position, or role of obscurity, insignificance, oblivion, lower rank or (especially) inferiority.
      Her bright ideas were relegated to "tosh" by her manager.
      Our correspondent adds that, when he visited Rouen in 1910, the engine had been relegated to the shuttle service between Rouen (Rive Droite) and Rouen (Rive Gauche). 1946 November and December, “A Veteran French Tank Engine”, in Railway Magazine, page 382
      A Class 158 relegated from express duties turns up to transport me via the flower-bedecked Brighouse station to the trans-Pennine main line at Bradley Junction and onwards to Huddersfield. November 2 2022, Paul Bigland, “New trains, old trains, and splendid scenery”, in RAIL, number 969, page 57
   2. Assign (a thing) to an appropriate place or situation based on appraisal or classification.
   3. (sports, chiefly soccer) Transfer (a sports team) to a lower-ranking league division.
      After finishing second-bottom in the table, United were relegated from the division.
3. (transitive) Refer or submit.
   1. Refer (a point of contention) to an authority in deference to the judgment thereof.
   2. Submit (something) to someone else for appropriate action thereby; compare delegate.
   3. (now rare) Submit or refer (someone) to someone or something else for some reason or purpose.

Etymology 2

First attested circa 1550: from the Classical Latin relēgātus (“banished person, exile”), the nominative singular masculine substantive form of relēgātus, the past participle of relēgō (“to dispatch, banish”).

noun

1. (history, obsolete) A person who has been banished from proximity to Rome for a set time, but without losing his civil rights.

Etymology 3

First attested circa 1425: from the Classical Latin relēgātus, the perfect passive participle of relēgō (“I dispatch”, “I banish”).

adj

1. (archaic) Relegated; exiled.