relation
♦♦ re|la|tion /rɪl'eɪʃən/ (relations)
1 [N-COUNT] usu pl
Relations between people, groups, or countries are contacts between them and the way in which they behave towards each other.
Greece has established full diplomatic relations with Israel...
see also industrial relations, public relations,
2 [N-COUNT] usu sing, usu N of/to/between n
If you talk about the relation of one thing to another, you are talking about the ways in which they are connected.
It is a question of the relation of ethics to economics.
3 [N-COUNT]
Your relations are the members of your family.
...visits to friends and relations...
see also poor relation
= relative
4 [PREP-PHRASE]
You can talk about something in relation to something else when you want to compare the size, condition, or position of the two things.
The money he'd been ordered to pay was minimal in relation to his salary.
5 [PREP-PHRASE]
If something is said or done in relation to a subject, it is said or done in connection with that subject.
...a question which has been asked many times in relation to Irish affairs...blood re|la|tion (blood relations)
also blood relative
[N-COUNT]
A blood relation or blood relative is someone who is related to you by birth rather than by marriage.poor re|la|tion (poor relations)
[N-COUNT] usu N of n
If you describe one thing as a poor relation of another, you mean that it is similar to or part of the other thing, but is considered to be inferior to it.
Watercolour still seems somehow to be the poor relation of oil painting.
1 [N-COUNT] usu pl
Relations between people, groups, or countries are contacts between them and the way in which they behave towards each other.
Greece has established full diplomatic relations with Israel...
see also industrial relations, public relations,
2 [N-COUNT] usu sing, usu N of/to/between n
If you talk about the relation of one thing to another, you are talking about the ways in which they are connected.
It is a question of the relation of ethics to economics.
3 [N-COUNT]
Your relations are the members of your family.
...visits to friends and relations...
see also poor relation
= relative
4 [PREP-PHRASE]
You can talk about something in relation to something else when you want to compare the size, condition, or position of the two things.
The money he'd been ordered to pay was minimal in relation to his salary.
5 [PREP-PHRASE]
If something is said or done in relation to a subject, it is said or done in connection with that subject.
...a question which has been asked many times in relation to Irish affairs...blood re|la|tion (blood relations)
also blood relative
[N-COUNT]
A blood relation or blood relative is someone who is related to you by birth rather than by marriage.poor re|la|tion (poor relations)
[N-COUNT] usu N of n
If you describe one thing as a poor relation of another, you mean that it is similar to or part of the other thing, but is considered to be inferior to it.
Watercolour still seems somehow to be the poor relation of oil painting.