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relation, n.|rɪˈleɪʃən|
Also 4–7 relacion, (5 -cioun, 6 -cyon).
[a. F. relation (14th c.), or ad. L. relātiōn-em: see relate v. and -ion1.]
1. a. The action of relating in words; narration, recital, account; report. In early use esp. in phr. † to make relation.
1390Gower Conf. III. 77 Nectanabus..relacion Makth to the queene hou sche schal do. c1430Lydg. Min. Poems (Percy Soc.) 36 A riche man who, by commoun relacioun, Had gret power and myhte. 1462Paston Lett. II. 112 Thus it was told me, and..it is my part to geve you relacion thereof. 1555Eden Decades 65 He knewe by relation of owre men wherof owre swoordes were made. 1578T. N. tr. Conq. W. India 10 He brought perfect relation how the Countrey was riche of gold and silver. 1601Sir W. Cornwallis Ess. ii. xlvii. (1631) 296, I like no Relation so well, as what mine eye telleth me. 1671Milton Samson 1595 Give us if thou canst..Relation more particular and distinct. 1725De Foe Voy. round World (1840) 1 Whatever success they have had in the voyage they have had very little in the relation. 1800Coleridge Lett. (1895) I. 337 As to myself, I am doing little worth the relation. 1866G. Macdonald Ann. Q. Neighb. xii. (1878) 236 The early spring will detain me with the relation of just a single incident.
Comb.1687A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. d ij b, Those who therein are called Relation-makers, nay and the ancient Historians themselves.
b. Law. (See quots. and information 5 b.)
1632Star Chamb. Cases (Camden) 145 The Kings Attorney generall against my Lord Viscount Savill and others by relation of Sir John Jackson. 1710Act 9 Anne c. 20 §4 Informations..at the Relation of any Person or Persons desiring to sue or prosecute the same. 1798Dallas Amer. Law Rep. II. 112 There is a distinction between informations filed by the Attorney General, and those filed by him at the relation of a private person. 1885Law Rep. 14 Q.B. Div. 246 A proceeding by way of information by the Attorney-General at the relation of the Board of Works.
2. A particular instance of relating or narrating; a (or one's) narrative, account, statement.
1500–20Dunbar Poems xxx. 27 My brethir oft hes maid the supplicationis, Be epistillis, sermonis, and relationis. 1560J. Daus tr. Sleidane's Comm. 125 The kyng of Englande..sent thether his Ambassade,..who in the begynning made his relation. 1596Raleigh Discov. Guiana title-p., A relation of the great and Golden Citie of Manoa. 1653H. More Antid. Ath. iii. iii. §6, I will only add one Relation more of this nature. 1712Steele Spect. No. 526 ⁋3, I heard this Relation this Morning from a Gentleman who was an Eye-Witness. 1760–2Goldsm. Cit. W. cviii, Let them but read the relations of their own travellers. 1802M. Edgeworth Moral T. (1816) I. 216 The countess..related the circumstances... Albert heard her relation with astonishment. 1891J. Winsor Columbus i. 1 Of such, whether memoirs, relations, or letters, sixty-four are preserved in their entirety.
3. a. That feature or attribute of things which is involved in considering them in comparison or contrast with each other; the particular way in which one thing is thought of in connexion with another; any connexion, correspondence, or association, which can be conceived as naturally existing between things.
1393Langl. P. Pl. C. iv. 335 Thus ys mede and mercede as two manere relacions. Ibid. 344 Knowen ich wolde What is relacion rect. 1413Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iv. xxvi. 71 Somme manere of correspondence or relacion must nedes ben bytwene the two that ben y lyke. 1589Puttenham Eng. Poesie iii. xxiii. (Arb.) 269 So as there be found a iust correspondencie betweene them by this or that relation. 1597Morley Introd. Mus. 76 To make your descant carrie some forme of relation to the plaine song. 1620T. Granger Div. Logike 245 It is relation of time, or of the cause. 1690Locke Hum. Und. ii. xxv. §5 The Nature of Relation consists in the referring or comparing two things one to another. 1730A. Gordon Maffei's Amphith. 328 The Manner how they were placed..has a good deal of relation with the Nature of the internal Form of the Building. 1782Priestley Corrupt. Chr. I. Pref. 20 Some of my materials bear an equal relation to several..subjects. 1805–17R. Jameson Char. Min. (ed. 3) 173 The nucleus increases on its part, always preserving the same relation with the entire crystal. 1851Ruskin Stones Ven. (1874) I. Pref. 8 The relation of the life of the workman to his work. 1879G. C. Harlan Eyesight ix. 131 The size and form of the desk, and its relation to the seat, are not without their effect upon the welfare of the eyes.
b. In phr. in or with relation to.
1594Hooker Eccl. Pol. i. viii. §6 The diviner part in relation to the baser of our souls. 1659Gentl. Calling vii. §8 In relation to such his Servants, he is of all other Masters the most bountiful. 1680Moxon Mech. Exerc. No. x. 178 The heighth of the Legs with relation to the intended work. 1724A. Collins Gr. Chr. Relig. 184 That proves nothing in relation to the present Samaritans. 1772Mackenzie Man World ii. xi, It is only with relation to those we love that prosperity can produce happiness. 1818Colebrooke Import Colonial Corn 7 It is not so in relation to the more distant colonies. 1852H. Rogers Ecl. Faith (1853) 2 Your nephew..has in relation to religion at least, become an absolute sceptic.
†c. by relation: by natural consequence, by implication. Obs. rare—1.
1680Morden Geog. Rect., Japan (1685) 426 They strictly forbid their People to speak of Religion, and by Relation as little to profess it.
d. Logic. A constituent of a proposition or propositional function that connects two terms (a dyadic relation) or more (triadic, n-adic, etc.).
1870C. S. Peirce Coll. Papers (1933) III. iii. §47. 28 Inclusion in or being as small as is a transitive relation. 1885W. James in Mind X. 32 No relation-expressing proposition is possible except on the basis of a preliminary acquaintance with such ‘facts’..as this. 1910Whitehead & Russell Princ. Math. I. §30. 245 Functions of this kind always mean ‘the term having such and such a relation to x’. 1940W. V. Quine Math. Logic v. 201 Relations in the sense here considered are known, more particularly, as dyadic relations. 1956H. Reichenbach Direction of Time ii. 26 When the points are in a linear order, or serial order, they are governed by an asymmetrical and transitive relation. 1965Hughes & Londey Elem. Formal Logic xxxix. 272 Such relations are said to be non-symmetrical relations. Examples are: ‘implies’, ‘brother of’... Such relations are said to be non-transitive relations. Examples are: ‘one mile distant from’, ‘first cousin of’. Ibid. 274 Every dyadic relation must be either reflexive or irreflexive or non-reflexive. 1978C. Kirwan Logic & Argument i. 23 A binary relation such as hating, which holds from some but not all things to themselves, is neither reflexive nor irreflexive. Likewise many binary relations are neither transitive nor intransitive and many are neither symmetrical nor asymmetrical.
e. Philos., esp. as external relation, a connection existing between one thing and another which is not intrinsic to the identity of the first; internal relation, a connection between one thing and another which is intrinsic to the identity of the first.
1893F. H. Bradley Appearance & Reality iii. 31 Every quality in relation has..a diversity within its own nature, and this diversity cannot immediately be asserted of the quality. Hence the quality must exchange its unity for an internal relation. Ibid. iv. 40 This solid unit, existing only by virtue of external relations, is forced to expand. 1922G. E. Moore Philos. Stud. 288 Yet this last, according to me, is one of the things which the dogma of internal relations denies. 1935A. J. Ayer in Aristotelian Soc. Suppl. Vol. XIV. 179 The connexion between the proposition which Mr. Ryle mistakes for the dogma of internal relations and the dogma of internal relations as we understand it, is that they both follow from the proposition that all a thing's characters are intrinsic to it. 1956R. A. Wollheim in A. J. Ayer Revolution in Philos. ii. 22 In logic this view is known as the theory of ‘internal relations’. All the relations in which an object stands are rooted in its nature as firmly as triangularity is rooted in the nature of the triangle. 1975Hargreaves & White tr. Wittgenstein's Philos. Remarks iii. 63 The essential difference between the picture conception and the conception of Russell, Ogden and Richards, is that it regards recognition as seeing an internal relation, whereas in their view this is an external relation.
4. a. to have or make relation: to have or make reference or allusion to something.
1433Rolls of Parlt. IV. 451/2 Yat yis saide worde Cloth..have relation and understondyng to hole Clothes..and not to other Clothes. 1530Palsgr. 353 Whan so ever we use in our tonge ‘the whiche’..makyng relacion to a substantyve or pronowne spoken of in the sentence next goynge before. 1592West 1st Pt. Symbol. §23 f, If not certeinly expressed, yet some relation is made to some thing whereby it may be made certein. 1596Danett tr. Comines (1614) 41 marg., These words haue relation to the Earl of Charolois return into Flaunders. 1611Florio, Relatizzare, to haue relation vnto. 1643Trapp Comm. Gen. l. 2 Some think the Apostle hath relation to this, in that 1 Cor. 15. 29. 1810Bentham Packing (1821) 237 Relation being made to the state of the law on one hand. 1818― Ch. Eng., Catech. Exam. 354 Relation being had to certain inquiries, having for their object [etc.]. 1873Helps Anim. & Mast. iii. 60 It had relation to horses.
b. Law (in phr. to have relation). Reference or application to an earlier date (cf. relate v. 6).
1491Act 7 Hen. VII, c. 19 The seid Proviso had relacion to the seid vj day of October the whiche was before the same feoffement. 1642tr. Perkins' Prof. Bk. i. §9. 5 It shall have relation unto the time from the first deliverie. 1766Blackstone Comm. II. 182 The use of the wife's estate..being then awakened, had relation back, and took effect from the original time of creation.
†c. A fiction of law by which two times or other things are identified, and for legal purposes, regarded as one and the same. Obs.
1598Termes Lawes 162 The thing subsequent is said to take his effect, by relation, at the time preceding. 1628Coke On Litt. iii. xviii. (1648) 70 A relation which is but a fiction in law, shall never make a man a felon. 1749Salthouse Wood's Conveyancing i. vi. §8 (O) 712 In this Case the Dower of the Woman shall be taken away by Relation.
transf.1605Bacon Adv. Learn. i. v. §2 The propositions of Euclyde..being demonstrate, our mind accepteth of them by a kind of relation (as the Lawyers speak) as if we had knowne them before.
5. a. Connexion between persons arising out of the natural ties of blood or marriage; kinship. Cf. relationship.
1660Jer. Taylor Duct. Dubit. ii. ii. rule 3 §40 Affinity makes conjunctions and relations equal to those of consanguinity. 1671Milton P.R. iv. 519 The Son of God I also am, or was, And if I was, I am; relation stands. 1758S. Hayward Serm. xvii. 531 The relation is as real as that of husband and wife. 1818Cruise Digest (ed. 2) III. 397 In the maternal line, Hannah Willis and Susan Bates stand in the same point of relation with the two above named. 1838Lytton Leila iv. iii, Their relation almost seemed reversed, and the daughter to be a mother watching over her offspring.
†b. Those related to one in this way; one's kindred. Obs. rare.
1653Jer. Taylor 25 Serm. vi. 72 He hath need of a great stock of piety, who is first to provide for his own necessities, and then to give portions to a numerous relation. 1702C. Mather Magn. Chr. vii. (1853) II. 667 Some of them had quite forgot their English tongue, and their Christian name, and their whole relation.
c. A person related to one by blood or marriage; a kinsman or kinswoman; a relative. Also freq. in pl., kinsfolk, relatives.
1502Hen. VII in Lett. Kings Eng. (1846) I. 191 His cousin and relation the king of Spain. 1626in Crt. & Times Chas. I (1848) I. 81 Dr. Smith, a man relation to Audley End..hath the mastership of Magdalen. 1641W. Hooke New Eng. Teares 14 The bloody contentions of brethren; and, when relations turn opposites, nothing more opposite. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iv. 374 Their Friends attend the Herse, the next Relations mourn. 1713Steele Guardian No. 17 ⁋8 He led her to a relation's house. 1773Goldsm. Stoops to Conq. ii. i, I hope, cousin, one may speak to one's own relations, and not be to blame? 1819Shelley Cenci i. ii. 69 He might bestow her on some poor relation. 1851Ruskin Stones Ven. (1874) I. App. 352 In the year 1434, the relations of Churchmen were declared ineligible to the post of Ambassador at Rome. 1870Dickens E. Drood ix, Rosa had no relation that she knew of.
d. In phr. no relation, denying relationship by blood or marriage despite having the same surname.
1930E. M. Brent-Dyer Chalet Girls in Camp xii. 175 Except..Ruth Wynyard, Lilli van Huysen, and Greta Macdonald—no relation!—all of them had been her [sc. Mrs. Macdonald's] pupils. 1977Private Eye 13 May 14/1 We shall see much more of it now that Mr Moss Evans (no relation) has been elected to one of the two highest offices in the land, as General Secretary of the TGWU.
6. a. The position which one person holds with respect to another on account of some social or other connexion between them; the particular mode in which persons are mutually connected by circumstances.
1650T. B[ayley] Worcester's Apoph. 63 As it was commonly observ'd by all the Servants, that had nearest relation to him. 1732Law Serious C. xxiv. (ed. 2) 488 If..our relation to God be our greatest relation. 1765Blackstone Comm. I. ii. 142 The most universal public relation, by which men are collected together, is that of government. 1849Macaulay Hist. Eng. i. I. 60 The opinions of the Puritan concerning the relation of ruler and subject. 1867Freeman Norm. Conq. (1877) I. iii. 93 The relation of every man to his lord was a relation of homage.
b. pl. The aggregate of the connexions, or modes of connexion, by which one person is brought into touch with another or with society in general.
a1687Waller Epit. Sir G. Speke, Just unto all relations known, A worthy patriot, pious son. 1745Butler Serm. Wks. 1874 II. 276 They ought to be instructed..in what is suitable to the highest relations in which we stand. 1781Gibbon Decl. & F. xliv. II. 670 Our relations to each other are various and infinite. 1796Burke Regic. Peace iii. Wks. VIII. 278 There was an end of that narrow scheme of relations called our country. 1865R. W. Dale Jew. Temp. xx. (1877) 221 By the death of Christ new relations were established between God and man. 1879Froude Cæsar vi. 49 Between mother and child the relations had been affectionate and happy.
c. pl. The various modes in which one country, state, etc., is brought into contact with another by political or commercial interests.
1797Adams in Amer. St. Papers (1833) I. 40 The minister of foreign relations informed the recalled American minister that [etc.]. 1818Parl. Deb. 18 With respect to our foreign relations, the treaties concluded with Spain and Portugal..formed a peculiar topic of congratulation. 1827Hallam Const. Hist. vi. I. 358 His chief praise, however, was his management of continental relations. 1861M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 39 Our commercial relations with the Baltic cities.
7. Comb., as relation-axis adj. phr. Gram., involving or consisting of a word expressing a relation and another with respect to which the relation holds; relation-word Gram., a word expressing relation between other words or groups of words, e.g. a preposition or conjunction.
1933L. Bloomfield Language 267 They [sc. English substantive expressions] occur in the position of axis in the relation-axis construction (beside John), with a positional meaning of, say, ‘center from which a relation holds good’. 1964E. A. Nida Toward Sci. Transl. iv. 57 In the phrases through the house, behind the store, and in the shed, the relationship between the prepositions through, behind, and in and the following immediate constituents (consisting of the noun with preposed determiner the) may be described as ‘relation-axis’.
1925Grattan & Gurrey Our Living Lang. xii. 79 [The work of a preposition] is to show the relation in which a noun stands to some other part of the sentence... For this reason it is also known as a Relation-word. 1962J. Söderlind in F. Behre Contrib. Eng. Syntax 117 Of-groups where of is a pure relation-word.
Hence reˈlation v. intr., to form relations.
1862Spencer First Princ. (1870) 86 Thinking being relationing, no thought can ever express more than relations.
Add:[6.] d. pl. euphem. Sexual intercourse (ellipt. for sexual relations s.v. sexual a. 2 a).
1927Weekly Dispatch 26 June 1 A group within the Church in America..sanctions an ‘open mind’ on the subject of relations between the sexes without marriage. 1963M. McCarthy The Group i. 23 She and Mother had talked it over and agreed that if you were in love and engaged to a nice young man you perhaps ought to have relations once to make sure of a happy adjustment. 1966B. Malamud Fixer (1969) iii. ii. 85 He undressed himself and his intentions were to have relations with a Russian woman. 1981G. Swift Shuttlecock xi. 76 Did you always have good, healthy relations with your wife? 1981H. Rawson Dict. Euphemisms (1983) 234 Relations. Uncles? Aunts? Cousins? Uh-uh. As with intercourse, it is the prefatory ‘sexual’ that has been delicately omitted, e.g. ‘They smoked some grass and then they had relations’.
▸ Computing. Each of the elementary two-dimensional data structures into which information is organized in a relational database, of which a table is a concrete representation.
1968Diss. Abstr. (B.) 29 180/1 The algorithm that constitutes the third contribution extracts the cyclic sets of sets from symmetric relation tables. 1970E. F. Codd in Communications Assoc. Computing Machinery 13 377/1 The principal application of relations to data systems has been to deductive question-answering systems. 1983Austral. Personal Computer Nov. 64/2 If the database is extended to include new kinds of data, all that is needed is the creation of new relations. 2002Jrnl. Database Managem. (Nexis) July–Sept. 34 The relational database design concepts were developed without considering missing information in relations. |