Relative word meaning and definition

[noun] an animal or plant that bears a relationship to another (as related by common descent or by membership in the same genus)
[noun] a person related by blood or marriage; "police are searching for relatives of the deceased"; "he has distant relations back in New Jersey"
[adjective] not absolute or complete; "a relative stranger"
[adjective] properly related in size or degree or other measurable characteristics; usually followed by `to'; "punishment oughtt to be proportional to the crime"; "earnings relative to production"

\Rel"a*tive\ (r?l"?-t?v), a. [F. relatif, L. relativus. See {Relate}.] 1. Having relation or reference; referring; respecting; standing in connection; pertaining; as, arguments not relative to the subject. I'll have grounds More relative than this. --Shak. 2. Arising from relation; resulting from connection with, or reference to, something else; not absolute. Every thing sustains both an absolute and a relative capacity: an absolute, as it is such a thing, endued with such a nature; and a relative, as it is a part of the universe, and so stands in such a relations to the whole. --South. 3. (Gram.) Indicating or expressing relation; refering to an antecedent; as, a relative pronoun. 4. (Mus.) Characterizing or pertaining to chords and keys, which, by reason of the identify of some of their tones, admit of a natural transition from one to the other. --Moore (Encyc. of Music). {Relative clause} (Gram.), a clause introduced by a relative pronoun. {Relative term}, a term which implies relation to, as guardian to ward, matter to servant, husband to wife. Cf. {Correlative}.
\Rel"a*tive\, n. One who, or that which, relates to, or is considered in its relation to, something else; a relative object or term; one of two object or term; one of two objects directly connected by any relation. Specifically:
(a) A person connected by blood or affinity; strictly, one allied by blood; a relation; a kinsman or kinswoman. ``Confining our care . . . to ourselves and relatives.'' --Bp. Fell.
(b) (Gram.) A relative pronoun; a word which relates to, or represents, another word or phrase, called its antecedent; as, the relatives ``who'', ``which'', ``that''.

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