noun reference; respect; regard.
2. relation ·noun the act of a relator at whose instance a suit is begun.
3. relation ·noun a person connected by cosanguinity or affinity; a relative; a kinsman or kinswoman.
4. relation ·noun connection by consanguinity or affinity; kinship; relationship; as, the relation of parents and children.
5. relation ·noun the act of relating or telling; also, that which is related; recital; account; narration; narrative; as, the relation of historical events.
6. relation ·noun the carrying back, and giving effect or operation to, an act or proceeding frrom some previous date or time, by a sort of fiction, as if it had happened or begun at that time. in such case the act is said to take effect by relation.
7. relation ·noun the state of being related or of referring; what is apprehended as appertaining to a being or quality, by considering it in its bearing upon something else; relative quality or condition; the being such and such with regard or respect to some other thing; connection; as, the relation of experience to knowledge; the relation of master to servant.