relative

English Online Dictionary. What means relative‎? What does relative mean?

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) [ˈɹɛl.ə.ɾɪv], (enunciated) [ˈɹɛl.ə.tʰɪv]
• 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.

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.

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.

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): [relaˈtive]
• Rhymes: -ive
• Hyphenation: re‧la‧ti‧ve

Adverb

relative

1. relatively

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʁə.la.tiv/

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

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/, [rɛɫ̪äːˈt̪iːu̯eː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /re.laˈti.ve/, [reläˈt̪iːve]

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/, [rɛɫ̪äːˈt̪iːu̯ɛ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /re.laˈti.ve/, [reläˈt̪iːve]

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