RELATIVE


Meaning of RELATIVE in English

transcription, транскрипция: [ relətɪv ]

( relatives)

Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.

1.

Your relatives are the members of your family.

Get a relative to look after the children.

= relation

N-COUNT

2.

You use relative to say that something is true to a certain degree, especially when compared with other things of the same kind.

The fighting resumed after a period of relative calm...

= comparative

ADJ : ADJ n

3.

You use relative when you are comparing the quality or size of two things.

They chatted about the relative merits of London and Paris as places to live...

ADJ : ADJ n

4.

Relative to something means with reference to it or in comparison with it.

Japanese interest rates rose relative to America’s...

PREP-PHRASE

5.

If you say that something is relative , you mean that it needs to be considered and judged in relation to other things.

Fitness is relative; one must always ask ‘Fit for what?’...

≠ absolute

ADJ : usu v-link ADJ

6.

If one animal, plant, language, or invention is a relative of another, they have both developed from the same type of animal, plant, language, or invention.

The pheasant is a close relative of the Guinea hen.

N-COUNT : usu N of n

Collins COBUILD Advanced Learner's English Dictionary.      Английский словарь Коллинз COBUILD для изучающих язык на продвинутом уровне.