Relation Meaning
/ɹɪˈleɪʃ(ə)n/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounThe manner in which two things may be associated.
nounA member of one's extended family; a relative.
Sentence Examples
What's your relation with him?
Wages vary in relation to the age of the worker.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
After years of cooperation, the trade ____ between the nations was officially recognized.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The diplomat worked to improve the ____ between the two countries after years of tension.
Word Origin & History
From Middle English relacion, relacioun, from Anglo-Norman relacioun and Old French relacion (whence French relation), from Latin relātiō, noun of process form from perfect passive participle relātus (“related”), from verb referō (“to refer, to relate”), from prefix re- (“again”) + ferō (“to bear, to carry”). By surface analysis, relate + -ion. Doublet of relazione.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations. It is easily earned repetition to state that Josephine St. Auban's was a presence not to be concealed."
— 1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLC:
"I shall you make relacyon
By way of apostrofacyon […]
How I, Skelton laureat,
Devysed and also wrate
Uppon a lewde curate, […]"
— c. 1503–1512, John Skelton, Ware the Hauke; republished in John Scattergood, editor, John Skelton: The Complete English Poems, 1983, →OCLC, page 62, lines 29–30, 33–35:
"Jones […] was easily prevailed on to satisfy Mr Dowling's curiosity, by relating the history of his birth and education, which he did, like Othello. […] Mr Dowling was indeed very greatly affected with this relation; for he had not divested himself of humanity by being an attorney."
— 1749, Henry Fielding, Tom Jones:
"[…]Signs are, first of all, physical things: for example, chalk marks on a blackboard, pencil or ink marks on paper, sound waves produced in a human throat. According to Reichenbach, "What makes them signs is the intermediary position they occupy between an object and a sign user, i.e., a person." For a sign to be a sign, or to function as such, it is necessary that the person take account of the object it designates. Thus, anything in nature may or may not be a sign, depending on a person's attitude toward it. A physical thing is a sign when it appears as a substitute for, or representation of, the object for which it stands with respect to the sign user. The three-place relation between sign, object, and sign user is called the sign relation or relation of denotation."
— 1974, Thomas S. Szasz, M.D., chapter 7, in The Myth of Mental Illness, →ISBN, page 107:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
After years of cooperation, the trade ____ between the nations was officially recognized.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The diplomat worked to improve the ____ between the two countries after years of tension.