relative

Etymology

From Middle French relatif, from Late Latin relātīvus, from Latin relātus, perfect passive participle of referō (“to carry back, to ascribe”), from re- (“again”) + ferō (“to bear or carry”).

adj

1. Connected to or depending on something else; comparative.
   For Liverpool, their season will now be regarded as a relative disappointment after failure to add the FA Cup to the Carling Cup and not mounting a challenge to reach the Champions League places. 2012 May 5, Phil McNulty, “Chelsea 2-1 Liverpool”, BBC Sport
2. (computing, of a URL, URI, path, or similar) Expressed in relation to another item, rather than in complete form.
   The relative URL /images/pic.jpg, when evaluated in the context of http://example.com/docs/pic.html, corresponds to the absolute URL http://example.com/images/pic.jpg.
3. (grammar) Depending on an antecedent; comparative.
   The words “big” and “small” are relative.
4. (music) Having the same key but differing in being major or minor.
5. (archaic or rare) Relevant; pertinent; related.
   relative to your earlier point about taxes, ...
6. Capable to be changed by other beings or circumstance; conditional.

noun

1. Someone in the same family; someone connected by blood, marriage, or adoption.
   Why do my relatives always talk about sex?
2. (linguistics) A type of adjective that inflects like a relative clause, rather than a true adjective, in certain Bantu languages.