RELATIVE • FREE TRANSLATOR.ORG • Definition of Relative

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/rˈɛlətɪv/ Listen

adjective

Relative adj.

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."

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."

(Gram.) Indicating or expressing relation; refering to an antecedent; as, a relative pronoun.

(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.

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.

noun

Relative 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."

(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".

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Etymology of 'Relative'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Relative" Quotes from Famous Books

... refuge in the household of Dr. Scott. One fine evening with bag and baggage I invaded his home. Only the white haired Doctor, his wife and their eldest daughter were there. The two younger girls, alarmed at this incursion of an Indian stranger had gone off to stay with a relative. I think they came back home only after they got the news ...

— My Reminiscences • Rabindranath Tagore

... neighboring Western States, Missouri and Illinois. The comparison is just, for while Missouri has increased since 1810, in wealth and population, much more rapidly than any of the Slave States, there are several Free States whose relative advance has exceeded that of Illinois. The rapid growth of Missouri is owing to her immense area, her fertile soil, her mighty rivers (the Mississippi and Missouri), her central and commanding position, and to the fact, that she has so small a number of slaves to the square ...

— The Continental Monthly, Vol 3 No 3, March 1863 - Devoted To Literature And National Policy • Various

... bureaus, where priests alone had held office, he introduced his most capable adjutants, who very soon mastered important documents relative to the army. He commanded to make a list of all men in the state who belonged to the military order, but who for years had not fulfilled any duty. He opened two new schools, one for the education of ...

— The Pharaoh and the Priest - An Historical Novel of Ancient Egypt • Boleslaw Prus

... intense a power, and so extensive a range of influence, it is strange that the composer should not have taken the rank and relative dignity to which he seems entitled in the province of the arts. But honour and fame are chiefly dispensed by poets and literary men; and it is impossible not to feel that, generally speaking, the musician is treated by men of letters as an alien from their own lineage. Music may be ...

— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 62, Number 361, November, 1845. • Various

... A question, relative to the subject of reproducing negatives, which was put at a meeting of one of your New York societies, prompts me to make a few remarks ...

— Scientific American Supplement, No. 303 - October 22, 1881 • Various

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