I. ˈre-lə-tiv noun
Date: 14th century
1. : a word referring grammatically to an antecedent
2. : a thing having a relation to or connection with or necessary dependence on another thing
3.
a. : a person connected with another by blood or affinity
b. : an animal or plant related to another by common descent
4. : a relative term
II. adjective
Date: 15th century
1. : introducing a subordinate clause qualifying an expressed or implied antecedent
a relative pronoun
also : introduced by such a connective
a relative clause
2. : relevant , pertinent
matters relative to world peace
3. : not absolute or independent : comparative
the relative isolation of life in the country
4. : having the same key signature — used of major and minor keys and scales
5. : expressed as the ratio of the specified quantity (as an error in measuring) to the total magnitude (as the value of a measured quantity) or to the mean of all the quantities involved