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.
© Webster 1913.