- 1 show or make a connection between two or more things synonym connect relate something I found it difficult to relate the two ideas in my mind. relate A to B In the future, pay increases will be related to productivity. Oxford Collocations Dictionary adverbclosely, directly, specifically, … verb + relatebe able to, can, attempt to, … prepositionto phrasesthe ability to relate to somebody/something, an attempt to relate something See full entry
- 2 (formal) to give a spoken or written report of something; to tell a story relate something She relates her childhood experiences in the first chapters. relate something to somebody He related the facts of the case to journalists. relate how, what, etc… She related how he had run away from home as a boy. relate that… The story relates that an angel appeared and told him to sing. Word Originmid 16th cent.: from Latin relat- ‘brought back’, from the verb referre ‘carry back’, from re- ‘back’ + ferre ‘bring’.Extra examples Attempts to relate studies on animals to those on humans are not really comparing like with like. Our work primarily relates to product design. The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern’s ongoing work in this area. An audio-visual presentation relates the story of the Battle of Hastings. He related the whole conversation to the police. In future, pay increases will be related to productivity. an earnings-related pension scheme income-related benefits performance-related pay Phrasal Verbsrelate to
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BrE BrE//rɪˈleɪt//; NAmE NAmE//rɪˈleɪt//
Verb Forms present simple I / you / we / they relate BrE BrE//rɪˈleɪt//; NAmE NAmE//rɪˈleɪt//
he / she / it relates BrE BrE//rɪˈleɪts//; NAmE NAmE//rɪˈleɪts//
past simple related BrE BrE//rɪˈleɪtɪd//; NAmE NAmE//rɪˈleɪtɪd//
past participle related BrE BrE//rɪˈleɪtɪd//; NAmE NAmE//rɪˈleɪtɪd//
-ing form relating BrE BrE//rɪˈleɪtɪŋ//; NAmE NAmE//rɪˈleɪtɪŋ//
Check pronunciation: relate
