relational

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /rɪˈleɪʃənəl/ UK /rɪˈleɪʃənəl/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
concerning the way two or more things are connected

The database stores customers and orders in relational tables.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · concerning the way two or... connective associative relative correlativeinterrelated

Opposites

absolute unrelated independent

Word family

Derived forms relationallyrelationality

Related forms relation relate relationship relative

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

relational database
a database that organizes information into tables with defined relationships

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From relation + -al. Relation is from Latin relationem ('a bringing back, reference'), from referre ('to carry back'), from re- ('back') + ferre ('to carry').

relationem Latin referre Latin ferre Middle English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# relational

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /rɪˈleɪʃənəl/
**IPA (UK):** /rɪˈleɪʃənəl/

## Meanings
1. concerning the way two or more things are connected

## Examples
- The database stores customers and orders in relational tables.

## Synonyms
- connective
- associative
- relative
- correlative
- interrelated

## Antonyms
- absolute
- unrelated
- independent

## Derived Forms
- relationally
- relationality

## Related Forms
- relation
- relate
- relationship
- relative

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: relationem
- Root: referre
- Root: ferre

## Etymology
From relation + -al. Relation is from Latin relationem ('a bringing back, reference'), from referre ('to carry back'), from re- ('back') + ferre ('to carry').

## AI Etymology
Relational comes from relation + -al. Relation is from Latin relationem ('a bringing back, reference'), from referre ('to carry back'), from re- ('back') + ferre ('to carry'). The historical chain includes Latin relationem, Latin referre, and Latin ferre. Older glosses in the chain include "a bringing back, reference", "to carry back", "back", and "to carry", which help explain the semantic range of the modern word. Morphologically, relational is best read as compound, suffixal formation, and borrowing, yielding an English adjective shaped by both form history and later usage. In current English it functions as an adjective, with the sense "concerning the way two or more things are connected". English derivatives include relationally and relationality; related forms include relation, relate, relationship, and relative. The result is an English adjective whose etymology preserves the older forms while supporting the word's specialized modern meaning.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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