relegate \RE-leh-geyt\ (verb) - 1 : To refer or assign to an insignificant position or priority, as to relegate a diplomat to an obscure post or relegate a task to someone of little authority; 2 : To turn over, refer or assign, as to relegate a task to someone.

"Richard has been relegated the task of keeping the office windows clean."

Today's word comes from Latin relegat-, the past participle of relegare "to send away, dispatch," based on re- "again" + legare "to appoint, to send on a commission." The Proto-Indo-European root from which "legare" derives, *leg-, is associated with speech and is also the source of the lex- (leg-s) in "lexical" and Greek logos "word, idea," the root beneath the suffix logy found in such English words as "biology," "cardiology," and "sociology." The same root also gave us the leg- in "legal" and "legislation" (from Latin lex, leg- "law"), probably from a concept such as the 'Word of God,' which was the original law. Today's word is often confused with a word of similar sound and meaning: "delegate." While these two words share the secondary meaning of today's word, to simply refer or assign, the primary meaning of "relegate" is "to assign a low position or priority," even "to banish or exile." "Delegate" has no such pejorative meaning. The process is "relegation" and a person exiled or relegated to an insignificant position is a "relegate."