relative

English

Alternative forms

• rel. (abbreviation)

Etymology

From Middle French relatif, from Late Latin relātīvus, from Latin relātus, perfect passive participle of referō (“to carry back, to ascribe”), from re- (“again”) + ferō (“to bear or carry”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɹɛl.ə.tɪv/
  • (US, Canada) IPA^(key): (flapped) , (enunciated) ^{[note 1]}

    • Audio (US; enunciated)

      (file)

    • Audio (US; more common in casual speech)

      (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛlətɪv

Adjective

relative (not comparable)

1. Connected to or depending on something else; comparative.
   • 2012 May 5, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, BBC Sport:

     For Liverpool, their season will now be regarded as a relative disappointment after failure to add the FA Cup to the Carling Cup and not mounting a challenge to reach the Champions League places.

2. (computing, of a URL, URI, path, or similar) Expressed in relation to another item, rather than in complete form.

   The relative URL /images/pic.jpg, when evaluated in the context of http://example.com/docs/pic.html, corresponds to the absolute URL http://example.com/images/pic.jpg.

3. (grammar) Depending on an antecedent; comparative.

   The words “big” and “small” are relative.

4. (music) Having the same key but differing in being major or minor.
5. (archaic or rare) Relevant; pertinent; related.
   • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies  (First Folio), London: Isaac Iaggard, and Ed Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, , page 264, column 2:

     The Spirit that I haue ſeene
     May be the Diuell, and the Diuel hath power
     T'aſſume a pleaſing ſhape, yea and perhaps
     Out of my Weakneſſe, and my Melancholly,
     As he is very potent with ſuch Spirits,
     Abuſes me to damne me. Ile haue grounds
     More Relatiue then this: The play's the thing,
     Wherein Ile catch the Conſcience of the King.

   relative to your earlier point about taxes, ...

6. Capable to be changed by other beings or circumstance; conditional.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Derived terms

Related terms

Translations

Noun

relative (plural relatives)

2. Someone connected by blood, marriage, or adoption; someone in the same family.

   Why do my relatives always talk about sex?

3. (figurative) Something kindred or related to something else.

   Synonym: cousin

4. (linguistics) A type of adjective that inflects like a relative clause, rather than a true adjective, in certain Bantu languages.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:relative

Related terms

Translations

See also

Notes

Anagrams

• levirate

Danish

Adjective

relative

1. inflection of relativ:
   1. definite singular
   2. plural

Esperanto

Etymology

From relativa +‎ -e.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):
• Rhymes: -ive
• Hyphenation: re‧la‧ti‧ve

Adverb

relative

1. relatively

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁə.la.tiv/

• Audio

  (file)

Etymology 1

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

relative

1. feminine singular of relatif

Etymology 2

Ellipsis of proposition subordonnée relative.

Noun

relative f (plural relatives)

1. (grammar) relative clause, adjectival clause, adjective clause

Anagrams

• lèverait, lévitera, relevait, révélait

German

Pronunciation

• Audio

  (file)

Adjective

relative

1. inflection of relativ:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Italian

Adjective

relative f pl

1. feminine plural of relativo

Anagrams

• evitarle, levitare, leviterà, rilevate, rivalete, rivelate, vietarle

Latin

Etymology 1

From relātīvus +‎ -ē.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /re.laːˈtiː.u̯eː/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /re.laˈti.ve/,

Adverb

relātīvē (not comparable)

1. (Late Latin) relatively

References

• “rĕlātīvē”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• relative in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
• rĕlātīvē in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette, page 1,335/2.

Etymology 2

A regularly declined form of relātīvus.

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /re.laːˈtiː.u̯e/,
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /re.laˈti.ve/,

Adjective

relātīve

1. vocative masculine singular of relātīvus

Norwegian Bokmål

Adjective

relative

1. inflection of relativ:
   1. definite singular
   2. plural

Norwegian Nynorsk

Adjective

relative

1. inflection of relativ:
   1. definite singular
   2. plural

Swedish

Adjective

relative

1. definite natural masculine singular of relativ