noun
- an existing connection; a significant association between or among things: the relation between cause and effect.
- relations,
- the various connections between peoples, countries, etc.: foreign relations.
- the various connections in which persons are brought together: business and social relations.
- sexual intercourse.
- the mode or kind of connection between one person and another, between an individual and God, etc.
- connection between persons by blood or marriage.
- a person who is related by blood or marriage; relative: his wife’s relations.
- the act of relating, narrating, or telling; narration.
- Law. a principle whereby effect is given to an act done at one time as if it had been done at a previous time.
- Mathematics.
- a property that associates two quantities in a definite order, as equality or inequality.
- a single- or multiple-valued function.
- in/with relation to, with reference to; concerning: It’s best to plan with relation to anticipated changes in one’s earnings.
noun
- the state or condition of being related or the manner in which things are related
- connection by blood or marriage; kinship
- a person who is connected by blood or marriage; relative; kinsman
- reference or regard (esp in the phrase in or with relation to)
- the position, association, connection, or status of one person or thing with regard to another or others
- the act of relating or narrating
- an account or narrative
- law the principle by which an act done at one time is regarded in law as having been done antecedently
- law the statement of grounds of complaint made by a relator
- logic maths
- an association between ordered pairs of objects, numbers, etc, such as … is greater than …
- the set of ordered pairs whose members have such an association
- philosophy
- internal relationa relation that necessarily holds between its relata, as 4 is greater than 2
- external relationa relation that does not so hold
late 14c., “connection, correspondence;” also “act of telling,” from Anglo-French relacioun, Old French relacion “report, connection” (14c.), from Latin relationem (nominative relatio) “a bringing back, restoring; a report, proposition,” from relatus (see relate). Meaning “person related by blood or marriage” first attested c.1500. Stand-alone phrase no relation “not in the same family” is attested by 1930.
n.
- A logical or natural association between two or more things; relevance of one to another; connection.
- The connection of people by blood or marriage; kinship.
- A person connected to another by blood or marriage; a relative.
- The positional relationship of the teeth or other structures in the mouth.
see poor relation; relative (in relation) to.