English Dictionary: relation | by the DICT Development Group |
3 results for relation | |
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]: | |
| |
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: | |
Relation \Re*la"tion\ (r?-l?"sh?n), n. [F. relation, L. relatio. See {Relate}.] 1. The act of relating or telling; also, that which is related; recital; account; narration; narrative; as, the relation of historical events. [?][?][?][?][?][?]oet's relation doth well figure them. --Bacon. 2. The state of being related or of referring; what is apprehended as appertaining to a being or quality, by considering it in its bearing upon something else; relative quality or condition; the being such and such with regard or respect to some other thing; connection; as, the relation of experience to knowledge; the relation of master to servant. Any sort of connection which is perceived or imagined between two or more things, or any comparison which is made by the mind, is a relation. --I. Taylor. 3. Reference; respect; regard. I have been importuned to make some observations on this art in relation to its agreement with poetry. --Dryden. 4. Connection by consanguinity or affinity; kinship; relationship; as, the relation of parents and children. Relations dear, and all the charities Of father, son, and brother, first were known. --Milton. 5. A person connected by cosanguinity or affinity; a relative; a kinsman or kinswoman. For me . . . my relation does not care a rush. --Ld. Lytton. 6. (Law) (a) The carrying back, and giving effect or operation to, an act or proceeding frrom some previous date or time, by a sort of fiction, as if it had happened or begun at that time. In such case the act is said to take effect by relation. (b) The act of a relator at whose instance a suit is begun. --Wharton. Burrill. Syn: Recital; rehearsal; narration; account; narrative; tale; detail; description; kindred; kinship; consanguinity; affinity; kinsman; kinswoman. | |
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (15Feb98) [foldoc]: | |
relation 1. x B. If (a, b) is an element of R then we write a R b, meaning a is related to b by R. A relation may be: {reflexive} (a R a), {symmetric} (a R b => b R a), {transitive} (a R b & b R c => a R c), {antisymmetric} (a R b & b R a => a = b) or {total} (a R b or b R a). See {equivalence relation}, {partial ordering}, {pre-order}, {total ordering}. 2. (1995-02-28) |