The easing when a weight lifts — tension leaving because the thing feared or carried has passed. The body's long exhale, arriving on its own.
Old French relief, from relever (to raise up again): re- (again) + lever (to lift), from Latin levare (to lighten, to raise), from levis (light in weight); relief is, at its root, a lifting-again of a weight that had been pressing down.
The easing when a weight lifts — tension leaving because whatever was feared or carried has passed. The root's lifting is the body's own long exhale, arriving on its own rather than being summoned.