Relations between people, groups, or countries are contacts between them and the way in which they behave towards each other.
Greece has established full diplomatic relations with Israel.
Relations between the two men became strained.
The company has a track record of good employee relations.
2. See also industrial relations, public relations, race relations
3. countable noun [usually singular]
If you talk about the relationof one thing to another, you are talking about the ways in which they are connected.
It is a question of the relation of ethics to economics. [+ of]
...the relation between power and knowledge. [+ between]
This theory bears no relation to reality. [+ to]
Synonyms: similarity, link, bearing, bond More Synonyms of relation
4. countable noun
Your relations are the members of your family.
...visits to friends and relations.
Jansher, another Khan from Peshawar, though no relation, dominated squash in theNineties.
5. See also poor relation
6.
See in relation to
7.
See in relation to
More Synonyms of relation
relation in British English
(rɪˈleɪʃən)
noun
1.
the state or condition of being related or the manner in which things are related
2.
connection by blood or marriage; kinship
3.
a person who is connected by blood or marriage; relative; kinsman
4.
reference or regard (esp in the phrase inorwith relation to)
5.
the position, association, connection, or status of one person or thing with regard to another or others
6.
the act of relating or narrating
7.
an account or narrative
8. law
the principle by which an act done at one time is regarded in law as having been done antecedently
9. law
the statement of grounds of complaint made by a relator
10. logic, mathematics
a.
an association between ordered pairs of objects, numbers, etc, such as … is greater than …
b.
the set of ordered pairs whose members have such an association
11. philosophy
a. internal relation
b. external relation
Word origin
C14: from Latin relātiō a narration, a relation (between philosophical concepts)
relation in American English
(rɪˈleɪʃən)
noun
1.
a narrating, recounting, or telling
2.
what is narrated or told; account; recital
3.
connection or manner of being connected or related, as in thought, meaning, etc.
4.
connection of persons by blood, marriage, etc.; kinship
5.
a person connected with another or others by blood, marriage, etc.; member of thesame family; relative
6. [pl.]
a.
the connections or dealings between or among persons in business or private affairs
b.
sexual intercourse
c.
the connections or dealings between or among groups, peoples, nations, states, etc.
foreign and trade relations
7. Law
a.
the statement of a relator at whose complaint an action is begun
b.
the referring of an act or proceeding to a time before its completion or enactment, as the time of its taking effect
Idioms:
in relation to
Word origin
ME relacion < MFr or L: MFr relation < L relatio: see relate
Examples of 'relation' in a sentence
relation
The two countries have had no diplomatic relations since.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
The contemporary conflict between the competing demands of blood relations and people you actually like may also play a part.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Wives are one thing, blood relations are another.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
In 2013 she glued herself to the window of a public relations company in a protest over fracking.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Diplomatic relations between Colombia and Venezuela are already poor.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
Make sure you have good relations with the local planning officials.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
This brings progress at work and in family relations.
The Sun (2009)
The implications extend beyond trade into diplomatic relations and national security.
Times, Sunday Times (2013)
Class relations will form one of the themes of the show.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
It seemed like they must have paid a public relations person to come up with this nonsense.
Times, Sunday Times (2016)
It was the sad privilege of blood relations to love him despite all.
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
Her industrial relations law reforms remain unchallenged.
Times, Sunday Times (2015)
It would be good public relations if the banks refunded the money themselves.
The Sun (2013)
The countries do not have formal diplomatic relations.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Family is not just about blood relations.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Consequently nationalisation had little impact on good industrial relations.
Grenville, J. A. S. The Collins History of the World in the 20th Century (1994)
Is there any way of resurrecting the situation and restoring diplomatic relations?
Times, Sunday Times (2008)
This kind of disagreement can seriously shadow future family relations if it is not worked out at the rehearsal.
Christianity Today (2000)
Having a process to deal with employee relations and behaviour is essential for the success and best interests of the whole business.
Times, Sunday Times (2014)
Relations between the company and the oligarchs were always testy, and periodically they blew up.
Times, Sunday Times (2012)
Space is always found, no matter how harassed the public relations person.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
There's always a relation between what one club wants and what the other club wants to do.
The Sun (2008)
To answer this question, it is necessary to consider the previous decade of employee relations at the plant.
A Conceptual View of Human Resource Management: Strategic Objectives, Environments,Functions
In fact her upward trajectory had been masterminded by a public relations company called Quite Great.
Times, Sunday Times (2007)
Lord Justice Laws said that the refusal to request their return did not contravene human rights or race relations laws.
Times, Sunday Times (2006)
In other languages
relation
British English: relation /rɪˈleɪʃən/ NOUN
Relations between people, groups, or countries are contacts between them and the way they behave towards each other.
Relations between the two countries are much better now.
American English: relation
Arabic: عَلاقَة
Brazilian Portuguese: relação
Chinese: 关系
Croatian: veza
Czech: vztah
Danish: forhold
Dutch: relatie
European Spanish: parentesco
Finnish: yhteys
French: relation
German: Verbindung
Greek: σχέση
Italian: relazione
Japanese: 関係
Korean: 관계
Norwegian: relasjon
Polish: stosunek związek
European Portuguese: relação
Romanian: legătură
Russian: отношение
Latin American Spanish: parentesco
Swedish: relation
Thai: ความเกี่ยวข้องกันของสิ่งของหรือบุคคล
Turkish: ilişki
Ukrainian: стосунок
Vietnamese: sự liên quan
All related terms of 'relation'
co-relation
→ correlation
poor relation
If you describe one thing as a poor relation of another, you mean that it is similar to or part of the other thing, but is considered to be inferior to it.
blood relation
A blood relation or blood relative is someone who is related to you by birth rather than by marriage.
cross relation
the simultaneous or successive occurrence of a note and its chromatic alteration , as C and C, in different voices ; false relation
false relation
a harmonic clash that occurs when a note in one part sounds simultaneously with or immediately before or after its chromatically altered ( sharpened or flattened ) equivalent appearing in another part
external relation
a relation that does not hold between its relata , as 4 is greater than 2
in relation to
You can talk about something in relation to something else when you want to compare the size , condition, or position of the two things.
internal relation
a relation that necessarily holds between its relata , as 4 is greater than 2
dispersion relation
the relationship between the angular frequency (ω) of a wave and the magnitude of its wave vector ( k ). Thus the wave's speed is ω/ k
equivalence relation
a relation that is reflexive , symmetric , and transitive : it imposes a partition on its domain of definition so that two elements belong to the same subset if and only if the relation holds between them