tr.v. rel·e·gat·ed, rel·e·gat·ing, rel·e·gates 1. To consign to an inferior or obscure place, rank, category, or condition: an artist's work that is now relegated to storerooms; a group that has been relegated to the status of second-class citizens. 2. To refer or assign (a matter or task, for example) for decision or action: relegate the teaching of writing to graduate students; relegate the matter to a committee. [Middle English relegaten, to banish, from Latin relēgāre, relēgāt- : re-, re- + lēgāre, to send, depute; see leg- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.] rel′e·gation n. |
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