a person who is connected with another or others by blood or marriage.
2.
something having, or standing in, some relation to something else.
3.
something dependent upon external conditions for its specific nature, size, etc. (opposed to absolute).
4.
Grammar. a relative pronoun, adjective, or adverb.
–adjective
5.
considered in relation to something else; comparative: the relative merits of democracy and monarchy.
6.
existing or having its specific nature only by relation to something else; not absolute or independent: Happiness is relative.
7.
having relation or connection.
8.
having reference or regard; relevant; pertinent (usually fol. by to): to determine the facts relative to an accident.
9.
correspondent; proportionate: Value is relative to demand.
10.
(of a term, name, etc.) depending for significance upon something else: “Better” is a relative term.
11.
Grammar.
a.
noting or pertaining to a word that introduces a subordinate clause of which it is, or is a part of, the subject or predicate and that refers to an expressed or implied element of the principal clause (the antecedent), as the relative pronoun who in He's the man who saw you or the relative adverb where in This is the house where she was born.
b.
noting or pertaining to a relative clause.
[Origin: 1350–1400; ME relatif (n.) (< MF) < LL relātīvus (adj.); see relate, -ive]
1388, "a relative pronoun," from O.Fr. relatif (13c.), from L.L. relativus "having reference or relation," from L. relatus, pp. of referre "to refer." Meaning "person in the same family" first recorded 1657; the adj. is attested from 1530. Relatively "in relation to something else" is recorded from 1561. Relativism in philosophy first recorded 1865 (relativist is from 1863).
estimated by comparison; not absolute or complete; "a relative stranger" [ant: absolute]
2.
properly related in size or degree or other measurable characteristics; usually followed by 'to'; "the punishment ought to be proportional to the crime"; "earnings relative to production" [syn: proportional]
noun
1.
a person related by blood or marriage; "police are searching for relatives of the deceased"; "he has distant relations back in New Jersey"
2.
an animal or plant that bears a relationship to another (as related by common descent or by membership in the same genus)
a member of one's family; a relation Example: All his relatives attended the funeral.
Arabic:
أحد الأقْرِباء، أحد أفراد العائِلَه
Chinese (Simplified):
亲戚
Chinese (Traditional):
親戚
Czech:
příbuzný, -á
Danish:
pårørende
Dutch:
familielid
Estonian:
sugulane
Finnish:
sukulainen
French:
parent, parente
German:
der, *die Verwandte
Greek:
συγγενής
Hungarian:
rokon
Icelandic:
skyldmenni
Indonesian:
keluarga
Italian:
parente
Japanese:
親類
Korean:
친척, 인척, 일가
Latvian:
radinieks
Lithuanian:
giminė
Norwegian:
slektning
Polish:
krewny
Portuguese (Brazil):
parente
Portuguese (Portugal):
parente
Romanian:
rudă
Russian:
родственник
Slovak:
príbuzný, -á
Slovenian:
sorodnik
Spanish:
pariente
Swedish:
släkting
Turkish:
akraba
relative1[ˈrelətiv]adjective
compared with something else, or with each other, or with a situation in the past etc Example: the relative speeds of a car and a train; She used to be rich but now lives in relative poverty.
Arabic:
نِسْبي
Chinese (Simplified):
相对的
Chinese (Traditional):
相對的
Czech:
poměrný
Danish:
forholdsmæssig
Dutch:
relatief
Estonian:
suhteline
Finnish:
suhteellinen
French:
relatif
German:
verhältnismäßig
Greek:
σχετικός
Hungarian:
viszonylagos, relatív
Icelandic:
í samanburði við
Indonesian:
relatif
Italian:
relativo
Japanese:
相対的な
Korean:
비교상의, 상대적인
Latvian:
relatīvs; salīdzinošs
Lithuanian:
santykinis, reliatyvus
Norwegian:
forholdsvis, relativ
Polish:
stosunkowy, względny
Portuguese (Brazil):
relativo
Portuguese (Portugal):
relativo
Romanian:
relativ
Russian:
сравнительный
Slovak:
pomerný
Slovenian:
sorazmeren
Spanish:
relativo
Swedish:
relativ
Turkish:
göreceli
relative2[ˈrelətiv]adjective
(of a pronoun, adjective or clause) referring back to something previously mentioned Example: the girl who sang the song; the girl who sang the song
Ab"so*lute\, a. [L. absolutus, p. p. of absolvere: cf. F. absolu. See Absolve.]1. Loosed from any limitation or condition; uncontrolled; unrestricted; unconditional; as, absolute authority, monarchy, sovereignty, an absolute promise or command; absolute power; an absolute monarch. 2. Complete in itself; perfect; consummate; faultless; as, absolute perfection; absolute beauty. So absolute she seems, And in herself complete. --Milton. 3. Viewed apart from modifying influences or without comparison with other objects; actual; real; -- opposed to relative and comparative; as, absolute motion; absolute time or space. Note: Absolute rights and duties are such as pertain to man in a state of nature as contradistinguished from relative rights and duties, or such as pertain to him in his social relations. 4. Loosed from, or unconnected by, dependence on any other being; self-existent; self-sufficing. Note: In this sense God is called the Absolute by the Theist. The term is also applied by the Pantheist to the universe, or the total of all existence, as only capable of relations in its parts to each other and to the whole, and as dependent for its existence and its phenomena on its mutually depending forces and their laws. 5. Capable of being thought or conceived by itself alone; unconditioned; non-relative. Note: It is in dispute among philosopher whether the term, in this sense, is not applied to a mere logical fiction or abstraction, or whether the absolute, as thus defined, can be known, as a reality, by the human intellect. To Cusa we can indeed articulately trace, word and thing, the recent philosophy of the absolute. --Sir W. Hamilton. 6. Positive; clear; certain; not doubtful. [R.] I am absolute 't was very Cloten. --Shak. 7. Authoritative; peremptory. [R.] The peddler stopped, and tapped her on the head, With absolute forefinger, brown and ringed. --Mrs. Browning. 8. (Chem.) Pure; unmixed; as, absolute alcohol. 9. (Gram.) Not immediately dependent on the other parts of the sentence in government; as, the case absolute. See Ablative absolute, under Ablative. Absolute curvature (Geom.), that curvature of a curve of double curvature, which is measured in the osculating plane of the curve. Absolute equation (Astron.), the sum of the optic and eccentric equations. Absolute space (Physics), space considered without relation to material limits or objects. Absolute terms. (Alg.), such as are known, or which do not contain the unknown quantity. --Davies & Peck. Absolute temperature (Physics), the temperature as measured on a scale determined by certain general thermo-dynamic principles, and reckoned from the absolute zero. Absolute zero (Physics), the be ginning, or zero point, in the scale of absolute temperature. It is equivalent to -273[deg] centigrade or -459.4[deg] Fahrenheit. Syn: Positive; peremptory; certain; unconditional; unlimited; unrestricted; unqualified; arbitrary; despotic; autocratic.
Re*lat"ed\ (-l?t"?d), p. p. & a. 1. Allied by kindred; connected by blood or alliance, particularly by consanguinity; as, persons related in the first or second degree. 2. Standing in relation or connection; as, the electric and magnetic forcec are closely related. 3. Narrated; told. 4. (Mus.) Same as Relative, 4.
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