Definitions for relative
ˈrɛl ə tɪvrel·a·tive

Princeton's WordNet(3.25 / 7 votes)Rate this definition:

1. relative, congener, congenator, congeneric(noun)

   an animal or plant that bears a relationship to another (as related by common descent or by membership in the same genus)

2. 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"

3. relative, comparative(adj)

   estimated by comparison; not absolute or complete

   "a relative stranger"

4. proportional, relative(adj)

   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"

Wiktionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. relative(Noun)

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

   Etymology: From relativus, from relatus, perfect passive participle of refero, from re- + fero

2. relative(Adjective)

   Relevant; pertinent

   Etymology: From relativus, from relatus, perfect passive participle of refero, from re- + fero

3. relative(Adjective)

   Connected to or depending on something else; not absolute; comparative.

   Etymology: From relativus, from relatus, perfect passive participle of refero, from re- + fero

4. relative(Adjective)

   That relates to an antecedent

   Etymology: From relativus, from relatus, perfect passive participle of refero, from re- + fero

5. relative(Adjective)

   Having the same key but differing in being major or minor

   Etymology: From relativus, from relatus, perfect passive participle of refero, from re- + fero

Webster Dictionary(4.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Relative(adj)

   having relation or reference; referring; respecting; standing in connection; pertaining; as, arguments not relative to the subject

   Etymology: [F. relatif, L. relativus. See Relate.]

2. Relative(adj)

   arising from relation; resulting from connection with, or reference to, something else; not absolute

   Etymology: [F. relatif, L. relativus. See Relate.]

3. Relative(adj)

   indicating or expressing relation; refering to an antecedent; as, a relative pronoun

   Etymology: [F. relatif, L. relativus. See Relate.]

4. Relative(adj)

   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

   Etymology: [F. relatif, L. relativus. See Relate.]

5. Relative(noun)

   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

   Etymology: [F. relatif, L. relativus. See Relate.]

6. Relative(noun)

   a person connected by blood or affinity; strictly, one allied by blood; a relation; a kinsman or kinswoman

   Etymology: [F. relatif, L. relativus. See Relate.]

7. Relative(noun)

   a relative pronoun; a word which relates to, or represents, another word or phrase, called its antecedent; as, the relatives "who", "which", "that"

   Etymology: [F. relatif, L. relativus. See Relate.]

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Relative

   rel′a-tiv, adj. having relation: respecting: not absolute or existing by itself: considered as belonging to something else: (gram.) expressing relation.—n. that which has relation to something else: a relation: (gram.) a pronoun which relates to something before, called its antecedent.—adj. Relatī′val (or Rel′atival).—adv. Rel′atively.—ns. Rel′ativeness, Relativ′ity.—Relativity of human knowledge, the doctrine that the nature and extent of our knowledge is determined not merely by the qualities of the objects known, but necessarily by the conditions of our cognitive powers.

The Standard Electrical Dictionary(5.00 / 1 vote)Rate this definition:

1. Relative

   Indicating the relation between two or more things without reference to absolute value of any one of them. Thus one lamp may be of relatively double resistance compared to another, but this states nothing of the resistance in ohms of either lamp.

Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. relative

   The bearing of a target measured in the horizontal from the bow of one

Editors Contribution(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. relative

   A person connected by marriage or form of family relationship.

   We are all family together on this planet united working to achieve human rights, sustainable development goals and shared prosperity for everyone.

   Submitted by MaryC on April 1, 2020  

2. relative

   Being connected or related.

   The data received was relative to the understanding of what is currently occurring and we all understand what is required to be changed to ensure the output is changed.

   Submitted by MaryC on April 12, 2020  

British National Corpus

1. Spoken Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'relative' in Spoken Corpus Frequency: #2553

2. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'relative' in Nouns Frequency: #1223

3. Adjectives Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'relative' in Adjectives Frequency: #342

Anagrams for relative »

1. levirate

How to pronounce relative?

1. Alex

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

How to say relative in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of relative in Chaldean Numerology is: 9

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of relative in Pythagorean Numerology is: 2

Examples of relative in a Sentence

1. Peter Dixon:

   Valuations are becoming even more stretched relative to fundamentals than they were, and that's not a particularly healthy place to be.

2. Douglas Kass:

   At the very least, sales and profit comparisons will likely grow increasingly difficult for Apple, both absolutely and relative to analysts' expectations.

3. Wouter Sturkenboom:

   I would expect differences in fiscal stimulus to be a driving force for relative performance of currencies this year as it is directly linked to the economic recovery story.

4. Feng Chongyi:

   He is well-connected in China and internationally. He knows high-profile people in the Communist Party and he believed that meant he could travel to China with relative impunity.

5. Capita Asset Services:

   Profits are lower relative to dividends than at any time since 2009, and we have seen some of Britain's biggest dividend payers announce drastic cuts for the year to come, with the prospect of more to follow.

Images & Illustrations of relative

Popularity rank by frequency of use