relative

B1 Topic:Family & Relationships

US /ˈɹɛl.ə.tɪv/ See IPA manual

Freq #4499

Meanings

1

noun
A member of your family.

All my relatives came to the wedding.
2

adj
Judged or measured in comparison with something else, rather than on its own.

They live in relative comfort compared with their neighbours.
3

adj
Connected with or relevant to something being discussed.

Please give me all the relative facts before I decide.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a member of your family. relation

2 adj · judged or measured in... comparative

More conditional limited sib

Opposites

absolute unlimited

Word family

Forms relatives

Derived forms aliorelativeethnorelativenon-relativerelativalrelative-in-lawrelatively relativenessrellierelostep-relativesteprelativetransrelative

Related forms aunt brother correlative cousin father godparent grand-grandchild granddaughter grandsongreat-grandchildgreat-grandparent

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

relative density
the density of a substance compared with that of a reference substance

Adjective + noun

Proverbs (2)

See all

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.

*telh₂- (bear) Proto-Indo-European relatif Middle French relātīvus la-lat relātus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Family & Relationships

External links

# relative

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** noun, adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈɹɛl.ə.tɪv/
**Frequency rank:** 4499

## Meanings
1. A member of your family.
2. Judged or measured in comparison with something else, rather than on its own.
3. Connected with or relevant to something being discussed.

## Examples
- All my relatives came to the wedding.
- They live in relative comfort compared with their neighbours.
- Please give me all the relative facts before I decide.

## Synonyms
- comparative
- conditional
- limited
- relation
- sib

## Antonyms
- absolute
- unlimited

## Derived Forms
- aliorelative
- ethnorelative
- non-relative
- relatival
- relative-in-law
- relatively
- relativeness
- rellie
- relo
- step-relative
- steprelative
- transrelative

## Related Forms
- aunt
- brother
- correlative
- cousin
- father
- godparent
- grand-
- grandchild
- granddaughter
- grandson
- great-grandchild
- great-grandparent

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *telh₂- (bear)
- Root: relatif
- Root: relātīvus
- Root: relātus

## 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.

## AI Etymology
Relative comes 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. Modern senses include a member of your family. and judged or measured in comparison with something else, rather than on its own.. The wider word family includes derivatives such as aliorelative, ethnorelative, non-relative, relatival, relative-in-law, and relatively and related forms such as aunt, brother, correlative, and cousin.

## Topics
- Family & Relationships

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