Word family noun relation relations relationship relative adjective related ≠ unrelated relative verb relate adverb relatively
From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishrelativerel‧a‧tive1 /ˈrelətɪv/ ●●● S3 W3 noun [countable] SSFFAMILYa member of your family SYN relation a gathering of friends and relativesa close/distant relative Her boyfriend is a distant relative of mine.COLLOCATIONSadjectivesa close relative (=a brother, parent, aunt etc)He lost several close relatives in the war.a distant relativeShe claims to be a distant relative of the Queen.a blood relative (=one related by birth not marriage)332 kidneys were donated last year by blood relatives or spouses.a living/surviving relativeAs far as she knew, she had no living relatives.phrasesa relative by marriageHow many women would be willing to care for distant relatives by marriage?friends and relativesAbout thirty-five close friends and relatives attended the wedding. THESAURUSrelative a member of your family, especially one who does not live with youMost of her relatives were able to come to the wedding.We have some distant relatives in Australia.relation a member of your family. Relation means the same as relative. It is often used when talking about whether someone is in the same family as another personBig cities can be lonely places if you have no friends or relations there.‘What relation is she to you?’ ‘She’s my half sister.’He’s no relation to the singer.descendant someone who is a family member of a person who lived and died a long time ago, for example the great-grandchild of that personThe people are the descendants of slaves who were brought over from Africa.ancestor a member of your family who lived a long time ago, especially hundreds of years agoMy ancestors originally came from Ireland.forefathers especially written people in your family who lived a long time ago – often used in historical descriptionsHis forefathers came to America over a century ago.extended family a family group that consists not only of parents and children, but also includes grandparents, aunts etcExtended families rarely live together in Britain, but they are still important.folks especially American English informal your family, especially your parentsAre you going to see your folks at Christmas?next of kin the person or people who are most closely related to you, for example your husband or mother, and who need to be told if something serious happens to youThe next of kin must be notified of his death before his name is released to the press. Examples from the Corpus
relative• Family Eldercare also helps out-of-state employees with concerns about aging relatives who live in Austin.• She is socially dependent on friends and relatives.• Because, they argued, the males in coalitions were almost always close relatives, kin selection enhanced the benefits of cooperation.• Shrimps are distant relatives of insects.• Within the family, meanwhile, money-making is reinforced as admirable through stories featuring relatives as the heroes.• Their graves were tended by surviving relatives in much the same way that they looked after the house of an absent friend.• Legalization also appears to have strengthened relationships between amnesty recipients and their relatives living abroad.• The women were to spend the night at a community youth center in Tokyo before meeting their relatives today.• Are your relatives from Denmark coming to the wedding?a close/distant relative• Two brothers of wife Gail Spiro and a distant relative of her husband arrived in San Diego yesterday.• No-one was able to locate even a distant relative.• It shows that every inhabitant of a mole-rat colony is a close relative.• Financial need, even on the part of a close relative, has apparently never been seen as a situation which required an automatic response.• They have lost parents, often a close relative or two and some of their oldest friends.• Two letters that might have been written to a distant relative, and that was all.• Ali was the name of a warrior, a distant relative of the Prophet Muhammad.relativerelative2 ●●○ W3 adjective 1 COMPAREhaving a particular quality when compared with something else The relative merits of both approaches have to be considered. her opponent’s relative lack of experience You may think you’re poor, but it’s all relative (=you are not poor compared to some people).2 → relative to somethingExamples from the Corpus
relative• She was terrified of flying. The relative advantages of air travel didn't tempt her at all.• There was something else Dilip offered me, the seductions of relative comfort.• Kim lived a life of relative ease and privilege.• It had been designed in a period of relative economic stability and was not fitted for such tumultuous times.• Figure 2.2 shows the changing relative importance of manufacturing in employment terms.• It's all relative, isn't it? Someone who is poor in this country might be considered well off in another.• The two men stood at the bar discussing the relative merits of various sports cars.• To sit in relative peace and quiet in the Miller house was a very rare occurrence and Terry was enjoying it.• Farr escaped to the relative quiet of his room.• The trend is further underlined by the relative size of the companies acquired.• Relative social position and relative command of this skill became regularly associated.• the relative strength of the dollar against the Mexican peso• The object of job evaluation is to provide a systematic approach to defining the relative worth of different jobs.From Longman Business Dictionaryrelativerel‧a‧tive /ˈrelətɪv/ adjective having a particular value or quality when compared with similar thingstherelative strength of the dollarIBM was a relative latecomer to the laptop market. —relatively adverbThe system is relatively easy to use. 