Definition of: relation

(ri·lā′shən) noun
1. The fact or condition of being related or connected, or that by which things are connected, either objectively or in the mind; interdependence; connection.
2. The act of relating or narrating; also, that which is related or told.
3. Connection by blood or marriage; kinship.
4. A person connected by blood or marriage; a kinsman: now mostly supplanted by relative.
5. Law a The statement of the grounds of a complaint or grievance by a relator. b The reaching back and taking effect of an act or judicial decree at a date anterior to its actual occurrence: Assignment in bankruptcy operates by relation back to the date of filing the petition.
6. Reference; regard; allusion: chiefly in the phrase, in relation to.
7. The position of one person with respect to another: the relation of ruler to subject.
8. plural Conditions in general which bring an individual in touch with his fellows; also, the various ways in which one country may come into contact with another politically and commercially. See synonyms under ANALOGY, KINDRED, KINSMAN, REPORT, STORY¹. [<F <L relatio, -onis <relatus, pp. to referre. See REFER.]