Definitions for the word "relative" from multiple English dictionaries.
1. a.
Having relation or reference; referring; respecting; standing in connection; pertaining; as, arguments not relative to the subject.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
2. a.
Arising from relation; resulting from connection with, or reference to, something else; not absolute.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
3. a.
Indicating or expressing relation; refering to an antecedent; as, a relative pronoun.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
4. a.
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.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
5. n.
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.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
6. n.
A person connected by blood or affinity; strictly, one allied by blood; a relation; a kinsman or kinswoman.
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
7. n.
A relative pronoun; a word which relates to, or represents, another word or phrase, called its antecedent; as, the relatives "who", "which", "that".
Source: The 1913 Webster Unabridged Dictionary, 1913
8. adj.
1 considered in relation to something else (relative velocity). 2 (foll. By to) proportioned to (something else) (growth is relative to input). 3 implying comparison or contextual relation (‘heat’ is a relative word). 4 comparative (their relative merits). 5 having mutual relations; corresponding in some way; related to each other. 6 (foll. By to) having reference or relating to (the facts relative to the issue). 7 gram. A (of a word, esp. A pronoun) referring to an expressed or implied antecedent and attaching a subordinate clause to it, e.g. Which, who. B (of a clause) attached to an antecedent by a relative word. n. 1 person connected by blood or marriage. 2 species related to another by common origin. 3 gram. Relative word, esp. A pronoun. relatively adv. [latin: related to *refer]
Source: Oxford English Dictionary, 1884
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