Adjacent Words

Relative definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

REL'ATIVE, a. [L. relativus.]
1. Having relation; respecting. The arguments may be good, but they are not relative to the subject.
2. Not absolute or existing by itself; considered as belonging to or respecting something else.
Every thing sustains both an absolute and a relative capacity; an absolute, as it is such a thing, endued with such a nature; and a relative, as it is a part of the universe, and so stands in such a relation to the whole.
3. Incident to man in society; as relative rights and duties.
4. Particular; positive. [Not in use.]
Relative made, in music, the mode which the composer interweaves with the principal mode in the flow of the harmony.
Relative terms, in logic, terms which imply relation, as guardian and ward; master and servant; husband and wife.
Relative word, in grammar, a word which relates to another word, called its antecedent, or to a sentence or member of a sentence, or to a series of sentences.
REL'ATIVE, n.
1. A person connected by blood or affinity; strictly, one allied by blood; a relation; a kinsman or kinswoman.
Confining our care either to ourselves and relatives.
2. That which has relation to something else.
3. In grammar, a word which relates to or represents another word, called its antecedent, or to a sentence or member of a sentence, or to a series of sentences, which constitutes its antecedent. "He seldom lives frugally, who lives by chance." Here who is the relative, which represents he, the antecedent.
"Judas declared him innocent, which he could not be, had he deceived his disciples." Here which refers to innocent, an adjective, as its antecedent.
"Another reason that makes me doubt of any innate practical principles is, that I think there cannot any one moral rule be proposed, whereof a man may not justly demand a reason; which would be perfectly ridiculous and absurd, if they were innate, or so much as self-evident, which every innate principle must needs be."
If we ask the question, what would be ridiculous and absurd, the answer must be, whereof a man may justly demand a reason, and this part of the sentence is the antecedent to which. Self-evident is the antecedent to which, near the close of the sentence.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: estimated by comparison; not absolute or complete; "a relative stranger" [syn: relative, comparative] [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, relative] n
1: a person related by blood or marriage; "police are searching for relatives of the deceased"; "he has distant relations back in New Jersey" [syn: relative, relation]
2: an animal or plant that bears a relationship to another (as related by common descent or by membership in the same genus) [syn: relative, congener, congenator, congeneric]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Date: 14th century 1. a word referring grammatically to an antecedent 2. a thing having a relation to or connection with or necessary dependence on another thing 3. a. a person connected with another by blood or affinity b. an animal or plant related to another by common descent 4. a relative term II. adjective Date: 15th century 1. introducing a subordinate clause qualifying an expressed or implied antecedent <a relative pronoun>; also introduced by such a connective <a relative clause> 2. relevant, pertinent <matters relative to world peace> 3. not absolute or independent ; comparative <the relative isolation of life in the country> 4. having the same key signature — used of major and minor keys and scales 5. expressed as the ratio of the specified quantity (as an error in measuring) to the total magnitude (as the value of a measured quantity) or to the mean of all the quantities involved

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. & n. --adj. 1 considered or having significance in relation to something else (relative velocity). 2 (foll. by to) having existence only as perceived or considered by (beauty is relative to the eye of the beholder). 3 (foll. by to) proportioned to (something else) (growth is relative to input). 4 implying comparison or contextual relation ('heat' is a relative word). 5 comparative; compared one with another (their relative advantages). 6 having mutual relations; corresponding in some way; related to each other. 7 (foll. by to) having reference or relating (the facts relative to the issue). 8 involving a different but corresponding idea (the concepts of husband and wife are relative to each other). 9 Gram. a (of a word, esp. a pronoun) referring to an expressed or implied antecedent and attaching a subordinate clause to it, e.g. which, who. b (of a clause) attached to an antecedent by a relative word. 10 Mus. (of major and minor keys) having the same key signature. 11 (of a service rank) corresponding in grade to another in a different service. 12 pertinent, relevant; related to the subject (need more relative proof). --n. 1 a person connected by blood or marriage. 2 a species related to another by common origin (the apes, man's closest relatives). 3 Gram. a relative word, esp. a pronoun. 4 Philos. a relative thing or term. Phrases and idioms: relative atomic mass the ratio of the average mass of one atom of an element to one twelfth of the mass of an atom of carbon-
12: also called atomic weight. relative density Chem. the ratio of the density of a substance to the density of a standard, usu. water for a liquid or solid, and air for a gas. relative molecular mass the ratio of the average mass of one molecule of an element or compound to one twelfth of the mass of an atom of carbon-
12: also called molecular weight. Derivatives: relatival adj. (in sense 3 of n.). relatively adv. relativeness n. Etymology: ME f. OF relatif -ive or LL relativus having reference or relation (as RELATE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Relative Rel"a*tive, n. One who, or that which, relates to, or is considered in its relation to, something else; a relative object or term; one of two object or term; one of two objects directly connected by any relation. Specifically: (a) A person connected by blood or affinity; strictly, one allied by blood; a relation; a kinsman or kinswoman. ``Confining our care . . . to ourselves and relatives.'' --Bp. Fell. (b) (Gram.) A relative pronoun; a word which relates to, or represents, another word or phrase, called its antecedent; as, the relatives ``who'', ``which'', ``that''.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Relative Rel"a*tive (r?l"?-t?v), a. [F. relatif, L. relativus. See Relate.] 1. Having relation or reference; referring; respecting; standing in connection; pertaining; as, arguments not relative to the subject. I'll have grounds More relative than this. --Shak. 2. Arising from relation; resulting from connection with, or reference to, something else; not absolute. Every thing sustains both an absolute and a relative capacity: an absolute, as it is such a thing, endued with such a nature; and a relative, as it is a part of the universe, and so stands in such a relations to the whole. --South. 3. (Gram.) Indicating or expressing relation; refering to an antecedent; as, a relative pronoun. 4. (Mus.) Characterizing or pertaining to chords and keys, which, by reason of the identify of some of their tones, admit of a natural transition from one to the other. --Moore (Encyc. of Music). Relative clause (Gram.), a clause introduced by a relative pronoun. Relative term, a term which implies relation to, as guardian to ward, matter to servant, husband to wife. Cf. Correlative.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(relatives) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. Your relatives are the members of your family. Get a relative to look after the children. = relation N-COUNT 2. You use relative to say that something is true to a certain degree, especially when compared with other things of the same kind. The fighting resumed after a period of relative calm... = comparative ADJ: ADJ n 3. You use relative when you are comparing the quality or size of two things. They chatted about the relative merits of London and Paris as places to live... ADJ: ADJ n 4. Relative to something means with reference to it or in comparison with it. Japanese interest rates rose relative to America's... PREP-PHRASE 5. If you say that something is relative, you mean that it needs to be considered and judged in relation to other things. Fitness is relative; one must always ask 'Fit for what?'... ? absolute ADJ: usu v-link ADJ 6. If one animal, plant, language, or invention is a relative of another, they have both developed from the same type of animal, plant, language, or invention. The pheasant is a close relative of the Guinea hen. N-COUNT: usu N of n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. a. 1. Referring (to something else), not absolute. 2. Respecting, relating to, pertaining to, belonging to, connected with. 3. Particular, special, positive, definite, pertinent, relevant. II. n. 1. Relation, kinsman, connection. 2. (Gram.) Relative pronoun.

Moby Thesaurus

affiliated, affinitive, agnate, allied, analogical, analogous, ancestry, appertaining, applicable, approximate, apropos, associated, associative, aunt, blood, blood relation, blood relative, brother, child, clansman, cognate, collatable, collateral, collateral relative, commensurable, commensurate, comparable, comparative, conditional, congenial, connected, connections, connective, consanguinean, contingent, contingent on, correlative, cousin, daughter, dependent on, distaff side, distant relation, en rapport, enate, family, father, flesh, flesh and blood, folks, german, germane, grandchild, granddaughter, grandfather, grandmother, grandparent, grandson, half brother, interconnected, interrelated, kin, kindred, kinfolk, kinnery, kinsfolk, kinsman, kinsmen, kinswoman, kith and kin, linking, matchable, mother, much at one, near, near relation, nephew, next of kin, niece, parallel, parent, people, pertaining, pertinent, posterity, proportionable, proportional, proportionate, referable, referring, related, relating, relation, relational, relations, relative to, relatives, relevant, reliant, sib, sibling, similar, sister, son, spear kin, spear side, spindle kin, spindle side, subject to, subordinate to, sword side, sympathetic, tribesman, uncle, uterine kin