Difference Between Resign and Re-sign

Both words are exactly the same in spelling but completely different in meaning. Both are verbs: the past tense of resign is resigned; similarly that of re-sign is re-signed.

“Resign” means to voluntarily give up (a job or position) in a formal or official way; or to make yourself accept something that is bad or that cannot be changed.  If you resign from your job it was your decision to leave the job, but if you are sacked from your job, you did not consent to giving up your job.  Sometimes you are forced to resign from your job to make a pretence that you did it voluntarily and were not sacked!  Similarly if you are resigned to your fate, it means you have stopped fighting the forces which dealt you an unpleasant blow.

Given below are examples of resign in sentences:

• The principal of the school has resigned due to ill-health. 
• The president of the club must resign since he has been caught in illegal money dealings. 
• The Prime Minister had to resign since his party lost the election. 
•  The managing director of the brewery was forced to resign due to irregularities in the finances of the company. 
• She resigned from her job because her boss made sexual advances towards her. 
• The Democratic Party lost the elections and now we are helplessly resigned to being ruled by a fascist government. 
• John broke his leg while skiing.  Now he is resigned to being immobile for at least six weeks. 
• Mary lost her husband recently.  She is resigned to this major setback since you cannot fight fate.  
• Susan has had so many heartbreaks that she is now resigned to living alone. 
• After years of trying for a baby, Paul and Sandra are now resigned to the fact that they will be childless. 
• We resigned ourselves to the fact that we were going to lose the game. 
• You don’t have to resign yourself to doing a job that you don’t enjoy. 
• He resigned from a ​high-profile ​job as ​economic ​adviser to the ​prime ​minister. 
• The ​statement ​excited new ​speculation that a ​senior ​minister may be about to resign. 

Re-sign means to sign a document again.  The prefix “re” signifies to do something again.  Sentences using re-sign:

• He had to re-sign the cheque as the signature did not tally with that in the records of the bank. 
• That win backed up my conviction that we re-sign the football player. 
• The principal had to re-sign my certificate since my name was wrongly spelt. 
• Frank had to re-sign several times to prove his signature was genuine. 
• Many official documents require signing and re-signing several pages. 
• The temporary help was so efficient that we re-signed her for a further six months. 
• The TV star had finished her contract with the channel, but she was re-signed in for a new show immediately. 
• If you make a mistake while writing a cheque, strike-through the error and re-sign next to it. 
• If you suspect a credit card to be fraudulent, insist that the holder re-signs the charge form. 
• Lisa’s contract with the company was expiring shortly, but the managing director asked her to re-sign a new contract. 
• Thomas had to re-sign his will since his signature had changed significantly. 
• The divorce papers had to be re-signed since several clauses had been amended.

English is a “funny” language!  Both resign and re-sign have the same spelling, one with a hyphen and one without, and the hyphen changes the meaning of the word.

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