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relative

Pronunciation: /ˈɹɛl.ə.tɪv/

The English word “relative” has 9 meanings listed here.

adjective

  1. Connected to or depending on something else; comparative.
  2. Expressed in relation to another item, rather than in complete form.
  3. Depending on an antecedent; comparative.
  4. Having the same key but differing in being major or minor.
  5. Relevant; pertinent; related.
  6. Capable to be changed by other beings or circumstance; conditional.

noun

  1. Someone connected by blood, marriage, or adoption; someone in the same family.
  2. Something kindred or related to something else.
  3. A type of adjective that inflects like a relative clause, rather than a true adjective, in certain Bantu languages.

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”). By surface analysis, relate + -ive.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.