relate
verbUS, UK /ɹɪˈleɪt/
Etymology From Latin relātus, perfect passive participle of referō (“carry back; report”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Doublet of refer. See also infer, collate and confer, delate and defer, as well as prefer and prelate among others.
8 senses
1
To tell in a descriptive way.
- The captain related an old yarn.
- Please relate the circumstances of your journey here today.
2
To be relevant specifically to.
- These regulations relate only to exported goods.
3
To bring into a relation, association, or connection (between one thing and another).
- The use of video made it possible to relate the talk to the answers given to particular problems in the test. With this research design it was possible to relate changes in test score measures to changes in linguistic features[…]2002, Paul Light, Karen Littleton, Learning with Computers: Analysing Productive Interactions, page 92:
4
To have a connection.
- The patterns on the screen relate to the pitch and volume of the music being played.
5
Jargon To interact.
- Children who find it hard to relate end up being inadequately socialized.
- 'Men' and 'women' are separate and incomplete identities forced to relate in prescribed patterns.1971, Jude, “Destruction of "Sexual Duality"”, in Body Politic, number 1, page 3:
6
To respond through reaction.
7
To identify with; to understand.
- I find it difficult to relate to others because I'm extremely introverted.
8
Obsolete To bring back; to restore.
- Abate your zealous haste, till morrow next again / Both light of heaven and strength of men relate.1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book III, Canto IX”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 51:
- Derived terms
- aforerelated, correlate, interrelate, irrelate, misrelate, relatability, relate to someone, unrelate