relative

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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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

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Adjective

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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.
    • 2018 December 11, Jerry Stuger, “Autism and Religious Beliefs: Clues from Kafka Research”, in Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, volume 49, →DOI, pages 1559–1569:
      what is evidently clear is the nature and quality of rational thought exhibited by both types of minds. It can be stated that Kafka’s autistic mind is not susceptible to delusional concepts which might be presented as religious dogma by society or experienced by the self. For the neurotypical mind these concepts and experiences of existential doubt are harder to shake off since it appears that the neurotypical configuration of the self is an internal cognitive mechanism without an adequate external reality check. In contrast this external reality check appears to be present in the high-functioning autistic mind. It is thought that the autistic mind is more intimately connected with objective reality via its external sensory focus on reality and its superior understanding of physical causality, relative to neurotypical persons (Baron-Cohen et al. 1999; Paganini and Gaido 2013) and is therefore less susceptible to supernatural experiences or explanations.
  2. (computing, of a URL, URI, path, or similar) Expressed in relation to another item, rather than in complete form.
    The relative URL /images/pic.jpg, when evaluated in the context of http://example.com/docs/pic.html, corresponds to the absolute URL http://example.com/images/pic.jpg.
  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.
    relative to your earlier point about taxes, ...
    • c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii], page 264, column 2:
      The Spirit that I haue ſeene
      May be the Diuell, and the Diuel hath power
      T'aſſume a pleaſing ſhape, yea and perhaps
      Out of my Weakneſſe, and my Melancholly,
      As he is very potent with ſuch Spirits,
      Abuſes me to damne me. Ile haue grounds
      More Relatiue then this: The play's the thing,
      Wherein Ile catch the Conſcience of the King.
  6. Capable to be changed by other beings or circumstance; conditional.

Synonyms

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Antonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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Adverb

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relative (not comparable)

  1. (US) Alternative form of relatively.
    • 1961, Earl Leon Werley Heck, The Rise of Higher Education in California, 1834–1910:
      In 1924 it moved to a commonious campus at Stockton. Like other Californian colleges, however, it decided to remain a relative small institution.
    • 1974, Select Committee on Small Business, United States Senate, Small Business Tax Reform, 1970–74‎[1], page 175:
      Mr. Schneebell. Instead of the relative small number of cases, you should phrase it probably differently.
      Professor Brazer. I accept that correction.
    • 2010, Sebastian Sosa, The Influence of “Big Brothers:” How Important are Regional Factors for Uruguay?‎[2], page 3:
      In addition to the typical external disturbances faced by small open economies, such as shocks to terms of trade, to capital flows, or to the rest of the world’s demand, it is subject to a number of idiosyncratic shocks stemming from its relative big neighbors Brazil and—especially—Argentina.

Noun

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relative (plural relatives)

  2. Someone connected by blood, marriage, or adoption; someone in the same family.
    Why do my relatives always talk about sex?
  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

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Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ In General American and Canadian English, the flapped [ɾ] pronunciation [ˈɹɛl.ə.ɾɪv] is more common than the aspirated [tʰ] pronunciation [ˈɹɛl.ə.tʰɪv]; but in the derived adverb relatively, the aspirated pronunciation [ˈɹɛl.ə.tʰɪv.li] is more common, though the flap-t version can still be heard, especially in casual speech.

Anagrams

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Danish

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Adjective

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relative

  1. inflection of relativ:
    1. definite singular
    2. plural

Esperanto

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Etymology

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From relativa +‎ -e.

Pronunciation

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

Adverb

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relative

  1. relatively

French

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Pronunciation

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Etymology 1

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See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Adjective

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relative

  1. feminine singular of relatif

Etymology 2

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Ellipsis of proposition subordonnée relative.

Noun

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relative f (plural relatives)

  1. (grammar) relative clause, adjectival clause, adjective clause

Anagrams

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German

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Pronunciation

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Adjective

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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

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Adjective

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relative f pl

  1. feminine plural of relativo

Anagrams

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Latin

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Etymology 1

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From relātīvus +‎ -ē.

Pronunciation

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Adverb

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relātīvē (not comparable)

  1. (Late Latin) relatively

References

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Etymology 2

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A regularly declined form of relātīvus.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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relātīve

  1. vocative masculine singular of relātīvus

Norwegian Bokmål

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Adjective

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relative

  1. inflection of relativ:
    1. definite singular
    2. plural

Norwegian Nynorsk

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Adjective

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relative

  1. inflection of relativ:
    1. definite singular
    2. plural

Swedish

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Adjective

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relative

  1. definite natural masculine singular of relativ
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