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relative |
4 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Relative \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''. From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Relative \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}. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: relative adj 1: not absolute or complete; "a relative stranger" [ant: {absolute}] 2: 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" [syn: {proportional}] n 1: a person related by blood or marriage; "police are searching for relatives of the deceased"; "he has distant relations back in New Jersey" [syn: {relation}] 2: an animal or plant that bears a relationship to another (as related by common descent or by membership in the same genus) [syn: {congener}, {congenator}] From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (13 Mar 01) [foldoc]: RELATIVE Early system on IBM 650. Listed in CACM 2(5):16 (May 1959).
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