Surrender, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Surrendered; p. pr. & vb. n. Surrendering.]
Etymology: [OF. surrendre to deliver; sur over + rendre to render. See Sur-, and Render.]
Who is giving up, and who is receiving?
Receiving Surrender from the Eli: from Battle Scenes of the Quelling of Rebellions in the Western Regions, with Imperial Poems, Giuseppe Castiglione (Italian, 1688–1766), c. 1765–74; poem dated 1755. Cleveland Museum of Art.1. To yield to the power of another; to give or deliver up possession of (anything) upon compulsion or demand; as, to surrender one's person to an enemy or to an officer; to surrender a fort or a ship.
2. To give up possession of; to yield; to resign; as, to surrender a right, privilege, or advantage. To surrender up that right which otherwise their founders might have in them. Hooker.
3. To yield to any influence, emotion, passion, or power; -- used reflexively; as, to surrender one's self to grief, to despair, to indolence, or to sleep.
4. (Law)
1 more senses
To yield; to render or deliver up; to give up; as, a principal surrendered by his bail, a fugitive from justice by a foreign state, or a particular estate by the tenant thereof to him in remainder or reversion.
2 other Webster entries under this spelling
Surrender, v. i.
To give up one's self into the power of another; to yield; as, the enemy, seeing no way of escape, surrendered at the first summons.
Surrender, n.
1. The act of surrendering; the act of yielding, or resigning one's person, or the possession of something, into the power of another; as, the surrender of a castle to an enemy; the surrender of a right. That he may secure some liberty he makes a surrender in trust of the whole of it. Burke.
2. (Law)
The yielding of a particular estate to him who has an immediate estate in remainder or reversion. (b) The giving up of a principal into lawful custody by his bail. (c) The delivry up oh fugitives from justice by one government to another, as by a foreign state. See Extradition. Wharton.
Shades of meaning
To surrender is to give up upon compulsion, as to an enemy in war, hence to give up to any person, passion, influence, or power. To yield is to give place or give way under pressure, and hence under compulsion. Yield implies more softness or concession than surrender; the most determined men may surrender to overwhelming force; when one yields, his spirit is at least somewhat subdued. A monarch or a state cedes territory perhaps for a consideration; surrenders an army, a navy, or a fortified place to a conqueror; a military commander abandons an untenable position or unavailable stores. We sacrifice something precious through error, friendship, or duty, yield to convincing reasons, a stronger will, winsome persuasion, or superior force. Compare abandon.