relative

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a person related by blood or marriage

   police are searching for relatives of the deceased

2. 2
   adj

   Connected to or depending on something else; comparative.

   1914, Ernest Bramah, Max Carrados I once knew a case—possibly I read of it—where a pack of cards lay on the floor. It was a murder case and the guilt or innocence of an accused man depended on the relative positions of the fifty-first and fifty-second cards.

3. 3
   adj

   Expressed in relation to another item, rather than in complete form.

   The relative URL /images/pic.jpg, when evaluated in the context of http://example.com/index.html, corresponds to the absolute URL http://example.com/images/pic.jpg.

4. 4
   adj

   Depending on an antecedent; comparative.

   The words “big” and “small” are relative.

5. 5
   adj

   Relevant; pertinent; related.

   relative to your earlier point about taxes, ...

6. 6
   adv

   Alternative form of relatively.

   In 1924 it moved to a commonious campus at Stockton. Like other Californian colleges, however, it decided to remain a relative small institution.

7. 7
   noun

   Someone connected by blood, marriage, or adoption; someone in the same family.

   The eldest son was usually given the name of his paternal grandfather, later children those of other relatives.

8. 8
   adj

   estimated by comparison

Etymology

From Middle French relatif, from Late Latin relātīvus, from Latin relātus, perfect passive participle of referō (“to carry back, to ascribe”), from re- (“again”) + ferō (“to bear or carry”). By surface analysis, relate + -ive.