Relief (disambiguation)  

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The word relief comes from the Latin verb levo, to raise, lift up, elevate, with the addition of the Latin inseparable preposition re-, which has three distinct meanings: back, against and again. The Latin composite verb relevo results.

Lifting-up from a flat surface

A relief is a sculptured artwork where a modeled form projects from a flat background. Where made from plaster, the form is literally lifted up from the base level, but in sculpted stone it is rather the base which is lowered to create the impression of the unworked part being lifted up. The degree of lifting or projection can be minimal, termed bas-relief, being French for low-relief, or alto-rilevo, being Italian for high relief. An inverted relief or sunken relief is where the form is not raised up from the level base, but rather sunken into it by carving or sculpting, as seen for example in an intaglio (Italian for "cut-in") brooch or seal.

In related uses, relief may also refer to:

• Relief carving, the technique used in creating a wood relief
• Relief print, a group of techniques in printmaking
• Terrain, the third or vertical dimension of land surface
• Raised-relief map, a three-dimensional map representing elevation
• Shaded relief, a cartographic technique that portrays terrain by using simulated shadows
• Relief mapping (computer graphics), a texture mapping technique
• Optical relief, the apparent difference in the height of materials in optical mineralogy with differing refractive indexes
• Relief (music), the curvature of the neck of a guitar or similar instrument allowing the strings to vibrate freely

Lifting back of a burden or weight

In uses related to the sense of ease or deliverance from distress or constraints, relief may also refer to:

• Humanitarian aid, material assistance provided for humanitarian purposes, usually during crises
• Relief agency, or aid agency, an organisation dedicated to distributing aid, to relieve the burden of hunger
• Relief pitcher, a baseball pitcher who is brought into a game in progress to relieve the work of a team-mate
• Relief Society, a philanthropic women's organization, an auxiliary of the LDS Church
• Relief valve, a type of valve used to control, limit or "lift back" pressure
• Debt relief, the partial or total "lifting-back" or forgiveness of debt
• Relief, California, a community in the United States
• Relief, Kentucky, a town in the United States
• USS Relief, any of several U.S. Navy ships

Lifting-up again to a former station

Feudal relief, a one-off fine or form of taxation payable to an overlord by the heir of a feudal tenant to licence him to take possession of his inheritance. The payment thus obtains his "relief", his being lifted-up again into the place of honour formerly occupied by his predecessor.