Relate Meaning
/ɹɪˈleɪt/Definition, CEFR level A2, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo tell in a descriptive way.
verbTo be relevant specifically to.
Sentence Examples
It is difficult to relate to someone who has different values from you.
I see no reason why he doesn't relate to the firm.
I found it difficult to relate the two ideas in my mind.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The witness was asked to ____ the events of the accident in detail.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She found it difficult to ____ to characters in the novel whose experiences were so different from hers.
Word Origin & History
From Latin relātus, perfect passive participle of referō (“carry back; report”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Doublet of refer. See also infer, collate and confer, delate and defer, as well as prefer and prelate among others.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"The use of video made it possible to relate the talk to the answers given to particular problems in the test. With this research design it was possible to relate changes in test score measures to changes in linguistic features[…]"
— 2002, Paul Light, Karen Littleton, Learning with Computers: Analysing Productive Interactions, page 92:
"'Men' and 'women' are separate and incomplete identities forced to relate in prescribed patterns."
— 1971, Jude, “Destruction of "Sexual Duality"”, in Body Politic, number 1, page 3:
"Abate your zealous haste, till morrow next again / Both light of heaven and strength of men relate."
— 1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 51:
Explore More A2 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The witness was asked to ____ the events of the accident in detail.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
She found it difficult to ____ to characters in the novel whose experiences were so different from hers.