ˈreləˌgāt, usu -ād.+V transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
Etymology: Latin relegatus, past participle of relegare, from re- + legare to send with a commission or charge — more at legate
1.
a. : to send into exile : banish
b. : to put out of sight or mind : consign to insignificance or oblivion
relegate this sofa to the trash heap
details relegated to the footnotes
c. : degrade , demote
in the oldest Neolithic settlements … hunting has been relegated to a secondary role — V.G.Childe
the living tongues are relegated to a lower plane than Greek and Latin — C.H.Grandgent
2. : to consign by classifying or appraising
muscular atrophies … are not properly relegated to the group of neuromuscular disorders — W.A.D.Anderson
no wrong is done to a great and influential work by relegating it to rhetoric, to philosophy — René Wellek & Austin Warren
3. : to submit or refer for decision, judgment, or execution
smaller companies can relegate the job of planning to a semiclerical level — E.J.Mann
much of the work was relegated to special committees
Synonyms: see commit