RELATION

relation

(noun) an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of two entities or parts together

relation

(noun) (usually plural) mutual dealings or connections among persons or groups; “international relations”

relation, telling, recounting

(noun) an act of narration; “he was the hero according to his own relation”; “his endless recounting of the incident eventually became unbearable”

relative, relation

(noun) a person related by blood or marriage; “police are searching for relatives of the deceased”; “he has distant relations back in New Jersey”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

relation (countable and uncountable, plural relations)

The manner in which two things may be associated.

A member of one's family.

The act of relating a story.

(set theory) A set of ordered tuples.

(set theory) Specifically, a set of ordered pairs.

(databases) A set of ordered tuples retrievable by a relational database; a table.

(mathematics) A statement of equality of two products of generators, used in the presentation of a group.

(category theory) A subobject of a product of objects.

(usually collocated: sexual relation) The act of intercourse.

Synonyms

• (way in which two things may be associated): connection, link, relationship

• (member of one's family): relative

• (act of relating a story): recounting, telling

• (mathematics: set of ordered tuples): correspondence

• See also relative

Hyponyms

• (set theory): function

Anagrams

• Oriental, Tirolean, oriental, taileron, tenorial

Source: Wiktionary


Re*la"tion (r-l"shn), n. Etym: [F. relation, L. relatio. See Relate.]

1. The act of relating or telling; also, that which is related; recital; account; narration; narrative; as, the relation of historical events. relation doth well figure them. Bacon.

2. The state of being related or of referring; what is apprehended as appertaining to a being or quality, by considering it in its bearing upon something else; relative quality or condition; the being such and such with regard or respect to some other thing; connection; as, the relation of experience to knowledge; the relation of master to servant. Any sort of connection which is perceived or imagined between two or more things, or any comparison which is made by the mind, is a relation. I. Taylor.

3. Reference; respect; regard. I have been importuned to make some observations on this art in relation to its agreement with poetry. Dryden.

4. Connection by consanguinity or affinity; kinship; relationship; as, the relation of parents and children. Relations dear, and all the charities Of father, son, and brother, first were known. Milton.

5. A person connected by cosanguinity or affinity; a relative; a kinsman or kinswoman. For me . . . my relation does not care a rush. Ld. Lytton.

6. (Law) (a) The carrying back, and giving effect or operation to, an act or proceeding frrom some previous date or time, by a sort of fiction, as if it had happened or begun at that time. In such case the act is said to take effect by relation. (b) The act of a relator at whose instance a suit is begun. Wharton. Burrill.

Syn.

– Recital; rehearsal; narration; account; narrative; tale; detail; description; kindred; kinship; consanguinity; affinity; kinsman; kinswoman.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



RESET




Word of the Day

14 May 2025

TERNARY

(adjective) having three units or components or elements; “a ternary operation”; “a treble row of red beads”; “overcrowding made triple sessions necessary”; “triple time has three beats per measure”; “triplex windows”


coffee icon

Coffee Trivia

Decaffeinated coffee comes from a chemical process that takes out caffeine from the beans. Pharmaceutical and soda companies buy the extracted caffeine.

coffee icon