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

Relief

Relief is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb levo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is thus to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane...

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

Intaglio

Intaglio are techniques in art in which an image is created by cutting, carving or engraving into a flat surface and may also refer to objects made using these techniques:* Intaglio , a group of printmaking techniques with an incised image...

(Italian for "cut-in") brooch or seal.

In related uses, relief may also refer to:

• Relief carving
  Relief carving
  Relief carving as a type of woodcarving is as old as antiquity, yet it is still enjoyed by carvers today. Though it is not as popular as other forms of wood carving, it is gaining in popularity because of its versatility as a medium of artistic expression. There is essentially no limit to this form...
  
  , the technique used in creating a wood relief
• Relief print
  Relief print
  A relief print is an image created by a printmaking process where protruding surface faces of the matrix are inked; recessed areas are ink free. Printing the image is therefore a relatively simple matter of inking the face of the matrix and bringing it in firm contact with the paper...
  
  , a group of techniques in printmaking
• Terrain
  Terrain
  Terrain, or land relief, is the vertical and horizontal dimension of land surface. When relief is described underwater, the term bathymetry is used...
  
  , the third or vertical dimension of land surface
• Raised-relief map
  Raised-relief map
  A raised-relief map or terrain model is a three-dimensional representation, usually of terrain. When representing terrain, the elevation dimension is usually exaggerated by a factor between five and ten; this facilitates the visual recognition of terrain features.-History:In his 1665 paper for the...
  
  , 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
  Optical relief
  Optical relief is a concept in optical mineralogy which refers to the degree in which mineral grains stand out from the mounting medium, usually either oil with a known refractive index or Canada Balsam...
  
  , the apparent difference in the height of materials in optical mineralogy
  Optical mineralogy
  Optical mineralogy is the study of minerals and rocks by measuring their optical properties. Most commonly, rock and mineral samples are prepared as thin sections or grain mounts for study in the laboratory with a petrographic microscope...
  
   with differing refractive index
  Refractive index
  In optics the refractive index or index of refraction of a substance or medium is a measure of the speed of light in that medium. It is expressed as a ratio of the speed of light in vacuum relative to that in the considered medium....
  
  es
• Relief (music)
  Relief (music)
  Relief, or profile, refers to the amount of curvature in the neck of a guitar or other similar stringed instrument. When the strings of a guitar vibrate, they vibrate in an elliptical shape. Thus, providing the best possible action, requires that the guitar neck have a slight curve to allow the...
  
  , 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
  Humanitarian aid
  Humanitarian aid is material or logistical assistance provided for humanitarian purposes, typically in response to humanitarian crises including natural disaster and man-made disaster. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity...
  
  , 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
  Relief pitcher
  A relief pitcher or reliever is a baseball or softball pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed due to injury, ineffectiveness, fatigue, ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as being substituted by a pinch hitter...
  
  , a baseball pitcher who is brought into a game in progress to relieve the work of a team-mate
• Relief Society
  Relief Society
  The Relief Society is a philanthropic and educational women's organization and an official auxiliary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It was founded in 1842 in Nauvoo, Illinois, USA and has approximately 6 million members in over 170 countries and territories...
  
  , a philanthropic women's organization, an auxiliary of the LDS Church
• Relief valve
  Relief valve
  The relief valve is a type of valve used to control or limit the pressure in a system or vessel which can build up by a process upset, instrument or equipment failure, or fire....
  
  , a type of valve used to control, limit or "lift back" pressure
• Debt relief
  Debt relief
  Debt relief is the partial or total forgiveness of debt, or the slowing or stopping of debt growth, owed by individuals, corporations, or nations. From antiquity through the 19th century, it refers to domestic debts, in particular agricultural debts and freeing of debt slaves...
  
  , the partial or total "lifting-back" or forgiveness of debt
• Relief, California
  Relief, California
  Relief is an unincorporated community in Nevada County, California. Relief is located west of Washington. It lies at an elevation of 3947 feet . Relief was a station founded in 1847 by the first group sent to rescue the Donner Party....
  
  , a community in the United States
• Relief, Kentucky
  Relief, Kentucky
  Relief is an unincorporated community in Morgan County, Kentucky, United States. It lies along Route 172 east of the city of West Liberty, the county seat of Morgan County. Its elevation is 732 feet ....
  
  , a town in the United States
• USS Relief
  USS Relief
  Six ships in the United States Navy have been named USS Relief., a store ship, launched in 1836. She served intermittently until 1877 and was sold in 1883., a hospital ship with the Great White Fleet. She was commissioned in 1909...
  
  , any of several U.S. Navy ships

Lifting-up again to a former station

Feudal relief

Feudal relief

Feudal Relief was 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 fief, i.e. an estate-in-land, by inheritance...

, 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.