Re*la"tion (r?-l?"sh?n), n. [F.
relation, L. relatio. See Relate.]
1. The act of relating or telling; also, that
which is related; recital; account; narration; narrative; as, the
relation of historical events.
&?;&?;&?;&?;&?;&?;oet's relation doth well
figure them.
Bacon.
2. 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.
Any sort of connection which is perceived or imagined
between two or more things, or any comparison which is made by the
mind, is a relation.
I. Taylor.
3. Reference; respect; regard.
I have been importuned to make some observations on
this art in relation to its agreement with poetry.
Dryden.
4. Connection by consanguinity or affinity;
kinship; relationship; as, the relation of parents and
children.
Relations dear, and all the charities
Of father, son, and brother, first were known.
Milton.
5. A person connected by cosanguinity or
affinity; a relative; a kinsman or kinswoman.
For me . . . my relation does not care a
rush.
Ld. Lytton.
6. (Law) (a) 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. (b) The act of a
relator at whose instance a suit is begun. Wharton.
Burrill.
Syn. -- Recital; rehearsal; narration; account; narrative;
tale; detail; description; kindred; kinship; consanguinity; affinity;
kinsman; kinswoman.
