RELATION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does relation mean? 

• RELATION (noun)
  The noun RELATION has 6 senses:

1. an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of two entities or parts together

2. sexual activity between individuals, especially the insertion of a man's penis into a woman's vagina until orgasm and ejaculation occur

3. a person related by blood or marriage

4. an act of narration

5. (law) the principle that an act done at a later time is deemed by law to have occurred at an earlier time

6. (usually plural) mutual dealings or connections among persons or groups

  Familiarity information: RELATION used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• RELATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An abstraction belonging to or characteristic of two entities or parts together

Classified under:

Nouns with no superordinates

Hypernyms ("relation" is a kind of...):

abstract entity; abstraction (a general concept formed by extracting common features from specific examples)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "relation"):

social relation (a relation between living organisms (especially between people))

change (a relational difference between states; especially between states before and after some event)

oppositeness; opposition (the relation between opposed entities)

comparison (relation based on similarities and differences)

temporal relation (a relation involving time)

interrelatedness; interrelation; interrelationship (mutual or reciprocal relation or relatedness)

reciprocality; reciprocity (a relation of mutual dependence or action or influence)

business relation (a relation between different business enterprises)

control (a relation of constraint of one entity (thing or person or group) by another)

magnitude relation; quantitative relation (a relation between magnitudes)

family relationship; kinship; relationship ((anthropology) relatedness or connection by blood or marriage or adoption)

affinity; kinship (a close connection marked by community of interests or similarity in nature or character)

component; component part; constituent; part; portion (something determined in relation to something that includes it)

unconnectedness (the lack of a connection between things)

connectedness; connection; connexion (a relation between things or events (as in the case of one causing the other or sharing features with it))

foundation (the basis on which something is grounded)

mathematical relation (a relation between mathematical expressions (such as equality or inequality))

logical relation (a relation between propositions)

association (a relation resulting from interaction or dependence)

function (a relation such that one thing is dependent on another)

human relationship; relationship (a relation between people; ('relationship' is often used where 'relation' would serve, as in 'the relationship between inflation and unemployment', but the preferred usage of 'relationship' is for human relations or states of relatedness))

causality (the relation between causes and effects)

ownership (the relation of an owner to the thing possessed; possession with the right to transfer possession to others)

position; spatial relation (the spatial property of a place where or way in which something is situated)

possession (anything owned or possessed)

linguistic relation (a relation between linguistic forms or constituents)

Derivation:

relate (make a logical or causal connection)

relate (be in a relationship with)

relationship (a relation between people; ('relationship' is often used where 'relation' would serve, as in 'the relationship between inflation and unemployment', but the preferred usage of 'relationship' is for human relations or states of relatedness))

relationship ((anthropology) relatedness or connection by blood or marriage or adoption)

relationship (a state of connectedness between people (especially an emotional connection))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Sexual activity between individuals, especially the insertion of a man's penis into a woman's vagina until orgasm and ejaculation occur

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

carnal knowledge; coition; coitus; copulation; intercourse; relation; sex act; sexual congress; sexual intercourse; sexual relation

Hypernyms ("relation" is a kind of...):

sex; sex activity; sexual activity; sexual practice (activities associated with sexual intercourse)

Meronyms (parts of "relation"):

insemination (the introduction of semen into the genital tract of a female)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "relation"):

criminal congress; unlawful carnal knowledge (forbidden or tabu sexual intercourse between individuals)

penetration (the act (by a man) of inserting his penis into the vagina of a woman)

ass; fuck; fucking; nookie; nooky; piece of ass; piece of tail; roll in the hay; screw; screwing; shag; shtup (slang for sexual intercourse)

defloration (the act of depriving a woman of her virginity (especially by rupturing the hymen through sexual intercourse))

hank panky (illicit sexual intercourse)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A person related by blood or marriage

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

relation; relative

Context example:

he has distant relations back in New Jersey

Hypernyms ("relation" is a kind of...):

individual; mortal; person; somebody; someone; soul (a human being)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "relation"):

better half; married person; mate; partner; spouse (a person's partner in marriage)

sib; sibling (a person's brother or sister)

second cousin (a child of a first cousin of one's parent)

issue; offspring; progeny (the immediate descendants of a person)

next of kin (the person who is (or persons who are) most closely related to a given person)

kissing cousin; kissing kin (a more or less distant relative; familiar enough to be greeted with a kiss)

kinswoman (a female relative)

kinsman (a male relative)

agnate; patrikin; patrilineal kin; patrilineal sib; patrisib (one related on the father's side)

enate; matrikin; matrilineal kin; matrilineal sib; matrisib (one related on the mother's side)

family; kin; kinsperson (a person having kinship with another or others)

blood relation; blood relative; cognate; sib (one related by blood or origin; especially on sharing an ancestor with another)

in-law; relative-in-law (a relative by marriage)

descendant; descendent (a person considered as descended from some ancestor)

cousin; cousin-german; first cousin; full cousin (the child of your aunt or uncle)

ancestor; antecedent; ascendant; ascendent; root (someone from whom you are descended (but usually more remote than a grandparent))

Holonyms ("relation" is a member of...):

clan; kin; kin group; kindred; kinship group; tribe (group of people related by blood or marriage)

Derivation:

relationship (a relation between people; ('relationship' is often used where 'relation' would serve, as in 'the relationship between inflation and unemployment', but the preferred usage of 'relationship' is for human relations or states of relatedness))

relationship ((anthropology) relatedness or connection by blood or marriage or adoption)

relationship (a state of connectedness between people (especially an emotional connection))

Sense 4

Meaning:

An act of narration

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

recounting; relation; telling

Context example:

his endless recounting of the incident eventually became unbearable

Hypernyms ("relation" is a kind of...):

narration; recital; yarn (the act of giving an account describing incidents or a course of events)

Derivation:

relate (give an account of)

Sense 5

Meaning:

(law) the principle that an act done at a later time is deemed by law to have occurred at an earlier time

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

relation; relation back

Context example:

his attorney argued for the relation back of the amended complaint to the time the initial complaint was filed

Hypernyms ("relation" is a kind of...):

judicial doctrine; judicial principle; legal principle ((law) a principle underlying the formulation of jurisprudence)

Domain category:

jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)

Sense 6

Meaning:

(usually plural) mutual dealings or connections among persons or groups

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Context example:

international relations

Hypernyms ("relation" is a kind of...):

dealings; traffic (social or verbal interchange (usually followed by 'with'))

Domain usage:

plural; plural form (the form of a word that is used to denote more than one)

Derivation:

relate (have or establish a relationship to)

relate (be in a relationship with)

relationship (a state involving mutual dealings between people or parties or countries)

 Context examples 

A binary relation such that an element a is related to an element b, and b is in turn related to an element c, but a is not related to c.

(Antitransitive Relationship, NCI Thesaurus)

You must consider me only as Mr Elliot's relation.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

The branch of science that studies bacteria, especially in relation to medicine and agriculture.

(Bacteriology, NCI Thesaurus)

'I heard you were in town,' said she; 'I wanted to see you. Let us talk over this sad business. What can equal the folly of our two relations?'

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

The actions or reactions of an object or organism, usually in relation to the environment or surrounding world of stimuli.

(Behavior, NCI Thesaurus)

A binary relation such that if a is related to b and b is related to a, then a equals b.

(Antisymmetric Relationship, NCI Thesaurus)

An attribute used to characterize a change in the agent dose regimen in the context of its relation to the original documented treatment plan.

(Agent Dose Change Type, NCI Thesaurus)

Probably you would do nothing of the sort: but if you did, Mr. Brocklehurst would expel you from the school; that would be a great grief to your relations.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

A relation in which no element is in relation to itself.

(Antireflexive Relationship, NCI Thesaurus)

They were visited on their first settling by almost all their relations and friends.

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)