Relay - rely

Relay and rely are two verbs that can be confused, by typing error, or (more commonly for non-native speakers) by mis-hearing or misidentifying them. Relay can also be a noun, whereas with rely, the most common noun is reliance. (A spell-checker may allow you to confuse either relay or relay with the adverb really. This is only likely to be a typing mistake. Correct it!)

• 'To relay' is basically 'to renew'. or 'to use a fresh person (in a team), horse (on a journey)' - or some similar sequence. In a relay race, each one of a team (usually of four) runs a leg or swims a length in sequence; when they are runners, they usually pass a baton to mark the changeover. In telephones, wireless and computer networks messages may be transmitted by relay stations in which the message travels from the originator and then is amplified and sent on to the next relay station, and so on until it reaches its destination.
  • 'To relay' can also mean 'to lay again', as a carpet may be taken up for cleaning, and then relaid. This meaning is much better spelled with a hyphen: re-lay. (You may also want to see lay.)
• 'To rely' (with no '-a-') is "To depend on a person or thing with full trust or confidence" (OED). A husband and wife should rely on each other for support and companionship; a scholar must be able to rely on her (or his) sources, and a lawyer may rely on a particular precedent.
  • (There is also a very rare meaning 'to lie [or lean] back': the composer Thomas Morley (1557 or 1558 - 1602) wrote in a Madrigal (Philistus farewell to false Clorinda):

Thus spake Philistus, on his hooke relying: [= his shepherd's crook]

And sweetly fell a dying.