ˌreləˈtivəd.ē, -ətē, -i noun
( -es )
Etymology: probably from French relativité, from relatif relative + -ité -ity — more at relative
1. : the quality or state of being relative : relativeness
relativity of means to ends
2. : the fact or condition of being relative as opposed to absolute or independent : the state of being dependent for existence or determined in nature, value, or some other quality by relation to something else: as
a. : the quality of variability arising from necessary connection with or reference to something contingent
the relativity of beauty to taste or of rights to law
b. : the mutual dependence or concomitant variability of two or more related things
c. : dependence on the subjective nature of man or upon limitations and peculiar character of individuals
the relativity of knowledge
3.
a. : the study of the relative motion of bodies and of the associated phenomena
b. : theory formulated by Albert Einstein and leading to the assertion of the equivalence of mass and energy and of the increase of the mass of a body with increased velocity and based on the two postulates that if two systems are in relative motion with uniform linear velocity it is impossible for observers in either system by observation and measurement of phenomena in the other to learn more about the motion than the fact that it is relative motion and that measurements of the velocity of light in either system regardless of the position of the source of light always give the same numerical value — called also special theory of relativity
c. : an extension of the theory to include a discussion of gravitation and related phenomena — called also general theory of relativity
4. : a theory of culture which holds that societal systems of value, ethical standards, and social norms must be understood as inevitably related to their specific cultural context of historical development and which questions the extension of moral judgments arising out of a single tradition to another culture