Dictionary Information: Definition Relation - Description Meaning Thesaurus

Relation (Re*la"tion) (r?-l?"sh?n), n.
[F. relation, L. relatio. See Relate.]

1. The act of relating or telling; also, that which is related; recital; account; narration; narrative; as, the relation of historical events. "Poet's relation doth well figure them." Bacon.
2. The state of being related or of referring; what is apprehended as appertaining to a being or quality, by considering it in its bearing upon something else; relative quality or condition; the being such and such with regard or respect to some other thing; connection; as, the relation of experience to knowledge; the relation of master to servant. "Any sort of connection which is perceived or imagined between two or more things, or any comparison which is made by the mind, is a relation." I. Taylor.
3. Reference; respect; regard. "I have been importuned to make some observations on this art in relation to its agreement with poetry." Dryden.
4. Connection by consanguinity or affinity; kinship; relationship; as, the relation of parents and children. "Relations dear, and all the charities Of father, son, and brother, first were known." Milton.
5. A person connected by cosanguinity or affinity; a relative; a kinsman or kinswoman. "For me . . . my relation does not care a rush." Ld. Lytton.
6. (Law) (a) The carrying back, and giving effect or operation to, an act or proceeding frrom some previous date or time, by a sort of fiction, as if it had happened or begun at that time. In such case the act is said to take effect by relation. (b) The act of a relator at whose instance a suit is begun. Wharton. Burrill.

Synonyms -- Recital; rehearsal; narration; account; narrative; tale; detail; description; kindred; kinship; consanguinity; affinity; kinsman; kinswoman.