relation
Other forms: relations
Relation is a word that can describe a connection — between relatives or any two entities. You might consider your cousin as your relation, and you might have strained relations with him over your grandmother's estate.
The way that one thing affects another is their relation like the relation between childhood poverty and poor nutrition, for example. You can also call your relative a relation, as when you describe your great-grandfather as your oldest living relation. The phrase no relation means that even though two people share the same last name, they are not related — or aren't relations.
Definitions of relation
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an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of two entities or parts togethertypes:possessionanything owned or possessedsocial relationa relation between living organisms (especially between people)position, spatial relationthe spatial property of a place where or way in which something is situatedownershipthe relation of an owner to the thing possessed; possession with the right to transfer possession to otherscausalitythe relation between causes and effectshuman relationship, relationshipa relation between people; (`relationship' is often used where `relation' would serve, as in `the relationship between inflation and unemployment', but the preferred usage of `relationship' is for human relations or states of relatedness)functiona relation such that one thing is dependent on anotherassociationa relation resulting from interaction or dependencelogical relationa relation between propositionsmathematical relationa relation between mathematical expressions (such as equality or inequality)foundationthe basis on which something is groundedconnectedness, connection, connexiona relation between things or events (as in the case of one causing the other or sharing features with it)unconnectednessthe lack of a connection between thingslinguistic relationa relation between linguistic forms or constituentscomponent, component part, constituent, moiety, part, portionsomething determined in relation to something that includes itaffinity, kinshipa close connection marked by community of interests or similarity in nature or characterfamily relationship, kinship, relationship(anthropology) relatedness or connection by blood or marriage or adoptioncontrola relation of constraint of one entity (thing or person or group) by anotherbusiness relationa relation between different business enterprisestemporal relationa relation involving timecomparisonrelation based on similarities and differenceschangea relational difference between states; especially between states before and after some eventsubstancethe real physical matter of which a person or thing consistsocclusion(dentistry) the normal spatial relation of the teeth when the jaws are closedinclination, lean, leaning, list, tiltthe property possessed by a line or surface that departs from the verticalpoint of viewthe spatial property of the position from which something is observedcoincidencethe quality of occupying the same position or area in spacedead center, dead centrethe position of a crank when it is in line with the connecting rod and not exerting torquecentralitythe property of being centralmarginalitythe property of being marginal or on the fringesanterioritythe quality of being in front or (in lower animals) toward the headposterioritythe quality of being toward the back or toward the rear endexteriority, externality, outwardnessthe quality or state of being outside or directed toward or relating to the outside or exteriornorthernnessthe property of being to the northsouthernnessthe property of being to the southhorizontalitythe quality of being parallel to the horizonlanguage unit, linguistic unitone of the natural units into which linguistic messages can be analyzedslota position in a grammatical linguistic construction in which a variety of alternative units are interchangeableitem, pointa distinct part that can be specified separately in a group of things that could be enumerated on a listbuttthe part of a plant from which the roots spring or the part of a stalk or trunk nearest the rootscommunitycommon ownershipseveraltyexclusive individual ownershipproperty rightthe legal right of ownershipproprietary, proprietorshipan unincorporated business owned by a single person who is responsible for its liabilities and entitled to its profitsemployee ownershipownership of a business by the people who work for itbelongings, holding, propertysomething owned; any tangible or intangible possession that is owned by someonelandholdingownership of land; the state or fact of owning landwhite elephanta valuable possession whose upkeep is extremely costlycircumstancesa person's financial situation (good or bad)assetsanything of material value or usefulness that is owned by a person or companystockholdingownership of stocks; the state or fact of holding stocktreasureany possession that is highly valued by its ownerliabilitiesanything that is owed to someone elsepartnershipa cooperative relationship between people or groups who agree to share responsibility for achieving some specific goalcontradictorytwo propositions are contradictories if both cannot be true (or both cannot be false) at the same timecontrarya logical relation such that two propositions are contraries if both cannot be true but both can be falsefunction, map, mapping, mathematical function, single-valued function(mathematics) a mathematical relation such that each element of a given set (the domain of the function) is associated with an element of another set (the range of the function)parity(mathematics) a relation between a pair of integers: if both integers are odd or both are even they have the same parity; if one is odd and the other is even they have different paritygrass rootsthe essential foundation or sourceseries(electronics) connection of components in such a manner that current flows first through one and then through the otherlinkagean associative relationcommunicationa connection allowing access between persons or placesconcatenationthe linking together of a consecutive series of symbols or events or ideas etcbridgesomething resembling a bridge in form or functioninvolvementa connection of inclusion or containmentrelatednessa particular manner of connectednessunrelatednessthe lack of any particular manner of connectednessgrammatical relationa linguistic relation established by grammartransitivity(logic and mathematics) a relation between three elements such that if it holds between the first and second and it also holds between the second and third it must necessarily hold between the first and thirdreflexiveness, reflexivity(logic and mathematics) a relation such that it holds between an element and itselfmodality, modea classification of propositions on the basis of whether they claim necessity or possibility or impossibilitysemantic relationa relation between meaningshomonymythe relation between two words that are spelled the same way but differ in meaning or the relation between two words that are pronounced the same way but differ in meaningunitan individual or group or structure or other entity regarded as a structural or functional constituent of a wholememberanything that belongs to a set or classbalance, remainder, residual, residue, residuum, restsomething left after other parts have been taken awaysubparta part of a partsympathya relation of affinity or harmony between people; whatever affects one correspondingly affects the otheraffinity, phylogenetic relation(biology) state of relationship between organisms or groups of organisms resulting in resemblance in structure or structural partsdescent, filiation, line of descent, lineagethe kinship relation between an individual and the individual's progenitorsaffinity(anthropology) kinship by marriage or adoption; not a blood relationshipbrotherhoodthe kinship relation between a male offspring and the siblingsscalerelative magnitudeproportion, ratiothe relation between things (or parts of things) with respect to their comparative quantity, magnitude, or degreeratiothe relative magnitudes of two quantities (usually expressed as a quotient)directionthe spatial relation between something and the course along which it points or movesangular positionrelation by which any position with respect to any other position is establishedcompetitiona business relation in which two parties compete to gain customersclientagerelation of a client to a patronprofessional relationthe relation that exists when one person requests and is granted professional help from a qualified sourcecomplementaritythe interrelation of reciprocity whereby one thing supplements or depends on the otherinterdependence, interdependency, mutualitya reciprocal relation between interdependent entities (objects or individuals or groups)reciprocalsomething (a term or expression or concept) that has a reciprocal relation to something elsepsychodynamicsthe interrelation of conscious and unconscious processes and emotions that determine personality and motivationchronologyan arrangement of events in timesynchroneity, synchronicity, synchronisation, synchronism, synchronization, synchronizing, synchronythe relation that exists when things occur at the same timeasynchronism, asynchrony, desynchronisation, desynchronization, desynchronizingthe relation that exists when things occur at unrelated timesimaginative comparisonthe kind of mental comparison that is expressed in similes or metaphors or allegoriesantipodedirect oppositeantithesisexact oppositeconflictopposition in a work of drama or fiction between characters or forces (especially an opposition that motivates the development of the plot)flip sidea different aspect of something (especially the opposite aspect)gradable oppositionan opposition that is capable of being gradedpolarity, signthe state of having an indicated pole (as the distinction between positive and negative electric charges)ungradable oppositionan opposition that has no intermediate grade; either one or the othercontradictorinessthe relation that exists when opposites cannot coexistcontradictionopposition between two conflicting forces or ideascontraryexact oppositioncontrarietythe relation between contrariestertium quidsome third thing similar to two opposites but distinct from bothdifferencea significant changegradienta graded change in the magnitude of some physical quantity or dimensionconditional relation, implication, logical implicationa logical relation between propositions p and q of the form `if p then q'; if p is true then q cannot be falseantagonismthe relation between opposing principles or forces or factorsratea magnitude or frequency relative to a time unitdregsthe most worthless or undesirable part of somethinginequality(mathematics) a relation indicating that two quantities are of unequal valuetype of:abstract entity, abstractiona general concept formed by extracting common features from specific examples
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a person related by blood or marriage“he has distant relations back in New Jersey”synonyms: relativetypes:ancestor, antecedent, ascendant, ascendent, rootsomeone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent)blood relation, blood relative, cognate, sibone related by blood or origin; especially on sharing an ancestor with anotherkinsmana male relativekinswomana female relativekissing cousin, kissing kina more or less distant relative; familiar enough to be greeted with a kissnext of kinthe person who is (or persons who are) most closely related to a given personsecond cousina child of your parent's first cousinaffine(anthropology) kin by marriageancestressa woman ancestorbabythe youngest member of a group (not necessarily young)bastard, by-blow, illegitimate, illegitimate child, love child, whoresonthe illegitimate offspring of unmarried parentsbigamistsomeone who marries one person while already legally married to anotherbrother-in-lawa brother by marriagechilda member of a clan or tribeconsortthe husband or wife of a reigning monarchdaughter-in-lawthe wife of your sonfather-in-lawthe father of your spousefemale siblinga person's sisterforemothera woman ancestorgrandchilda child of your son or daughterhalf bloodone of siblings who have only one parent in commonmale siblinga sibling who is malemother-in-lawthe mother of your spousenephewa son of your brother or sisterniecea daughter of your brother or sisterpolygamistsomeone who is married to two or more people at the same timesciona descendent or heirsister-in-lawthe sister of your spouseson-in-lawthe husband of your daughtertripletone of three offspring born at the same time from the same pregnancytwineither of two offspring born at the same time from the same pregnancyunclethe brother of your father or mother; the husband of your aunt
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an act of narration“he was the hero according to his own relation”synonyms: recounting, telling
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the act of engaging in sexual intercoursetypes:deflorationthe act of depriving a woman of her virginity (especially by rupturing the hymen through sexual intercourse)roll in the hayslang for sexual intercoursehank pankyillicit sexual intercoursepenetrationthe act of inserting the penis into a partner's vagina or anuscriminal congressforbidden or tabu sexual intercourse between individualsextramarital sex, free lovesexual intercourse between individuals who are not married to one anotherincestsexual intercourse between persons too closely related to marry (as between a parent and a child)type of:
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(usually plural) mutual dealings or connections among persons or groups
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(law) the principle that an act done at a later time is deemed by law to have occurred at an earlier time“his attorney argued for the relation back of the amended complaint to the time the initial complaint was filed”synonyms: relation backtype of:judicial doctrine, judicial principle, legal principle(law) a principle underlying the formulation of jurisprudence
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