- relief (n.1)
- "ease, alleviation," early 14c., from Anglo-French relif, from Old French relief "assistance," literally "a raising, that which is lifted," from stressed stem of relever (see relieve). Meaning "aid to impoverished persons" is attested from c.1400; that of "deliverance of a besieged town" is from 1540s.
- relief (n.2)
- "projection of figure or design from a flat surface," c.1600, from Italian rilievo, from rilevare "to raise," from Latin relevare "to raise, lighten" (see relieve).