Emily Dickinson Lexicon

RE-LAT-ING, ppr.

1. Telling; reciting; narrating.
2. adj. Havine relation or reference; concerning.

RE-LA'TION, n. [Fr. from L. relatio, refero.]

1. The act of telling; recital; account; narration; narrative of facts; as, a historical relation. We listened to the relation of his adventures.
2. Respect; reference; regard. I have been importuned to make some observations on this art, in relation to its agreement with poetry. – Dryden.
3. Connection between things; mutual respect, or what one thing is with regard to another; as, the relation of a citizen to the state; the relation of a subject to the supreme authority; the relation of husband and wife, or of master and servant; the relation of a state of probation to a state of retribution.
4. Kindred; alliance; 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 consanguinity or affinity; a kinsman or kinswoman. He passed a month with his relations in the country.
6. Resemblance of phenomena; analogy.
7. In geometry, ratio; proportion.

RE-LA'TION-AL, a.

Having relation or kindred. We might be tempted to take these two nations for relational stems. – Tooke.

RE-LA'TION-SHIP, n.

The state of being related by kindred, affinity or other alliance. – Mason. [This word is generally tautological and useless.]

REL'A-TIVE, a. [Fr. relatif; L. relativus.]

1. Having relation; respecting. The arguments may be good, but they are not relative to the subject.
2. Not absolute or existing by itself; considered as belonging to or respecting something else. Every thing sustains both an absolute and a relative capacity; an absolute, as it is such a thing, endued with such a nature; and a relative, as it is a part of the universe, and so stands in such a relation to the whole. – South.
3. Incident to man in society; as, relative rights and duties.
4. Particular; positive. [Not in use.] – Shak. Relative mode, in music, the mode which the composer interweaves with the principal mode in the flow of the harmony. – Encyc. Relative terms, in logic, terms which imply relation, as guardian and ward; master and servant; husband and wife. Relative word, in grammar, a word which relates to another word, called its antecedent, or to a sentence or member of a sentence, or to a series of sentences.

REL'A-TIVE, n.

1. A person connected by blood or affinity; strictly, one allied by blood; a relation; a kinsman or kinswoman. Confining our care either to ourselves and relatives. – Fell.
2. That which has relation to something else. – Locke.
3. In grammar, a word which relates to or represents another word, called its antecedent, or to a sentence or member of a sentence, or to a series of sentences, which constitutes its antecedent. “He seldom lives frugally, who lives by chance.” Here who is the relative, which represents he, the antecedent. “Judas declared him innocent, which he could not be, had he deceived his disciples.” – Porteus. Here which refers to innocent, an adjective, as its antecedent. “Another reason that makes me doubt of any innate practical principles, is, that I think there can not any one moral rule be proposed, whereof a man may not justly demand a reason; which would be perfectly ridiculous and absurd, if they were innate, or so much as self-evident, which every innate principle must needs be.” – Locke. If we ask the question, what would be ridiculous and absurd, the answer must be, whereof a man may justly demand a reason, and this part of the sentence is the antecedent to which. Self-evident is the antecedent to which near the close of the sentence.

REL'A-TIVE-LY, a.

In relation or respect to something else; not absolutely. Consider the absolute affections of any being as it is in itself, before you consider it relatively. – Watts.

REL'A-TIVE-NESS, n.

The state of having relation.

RE-LAT-OR, n.

In law, one who brings an information in the nature of a quo warranto. – Blackstone.

RE-LAX', n.

Relaxation. [Not used.] – Feltham.

RE-LAX', v.i.

1. To abate in severity; to become more mild or less rigorous. In others she relax'd again, / And govern'd with a looser rein. – Prior.
2. To remit in close attention. It is useful for the student to relax often, and give himself to exercise and amusements.

RE-LAX', v.t. [L. relaxo; re and laxo, to slacken; Fr. relâcher, relascher; It. rilassare; Sp. relaxar. See Lax.]

1. To slacken; to make less tense or rigid; as, to relax a rope or cord; to relax the muscles or sinews; to relax the reins in riding.
2. To loosen; to make less close or firm; as, to relax the joints. – Milton.
3. To make less severe or rigorous; to remit or abate in strictness; as, to relax a law or rule of justice; to relax a demand. – Swift.
4. To remit or abate in attention, assiduity or labor; as, to relax study; to relax exertions or efforts.
5. To unbend; to ease; to relieve from close attention; as, conversation relaxes the student or the mind.
6. To relieve from constipation; to loosen; to open; as, medicines relax the bowels.
7. To open, to loose. – Milton.
8. To make languid.

RE-LAX'A-BLE, a.

That may be remitted. Barrow.

RE-LAX-A'TION, n. [Fr. from L. relaxatio.]

1. The act of slackening or remitting tension; as, a relaxation of the muscles, fibers or nerves; a relaxation of the whole system. Bacon. Encyc.
2. Cessation of restraint. Burnet.
3. Remission or abatement of rigor; as, a relaxation of the law. Swift.
4. Remission of attention or application; as, a relaxation of mind, study or business.
5. An opening or loosening.

RE-LAX'A-TIVE, a.

Having the quality of relaxing. [See Laxative.] B. Jonson.

RE-LAX'ED, pp.

Slackened; loosened; remitted or abated in rigor or in closeness; made less vigorous; languid.

RE-LAX'ING, a.

Tending to relax; adapted to weaken the solids; as, a relaxing medicine.

RE-LAX'ING, ppr.

Slackening; loosening; remitting or abating in rigor, severity or attention; rendering languid.

RE-LAY, n. [Fr. relais.]

1. A supply of horses placed on the road to be in readiness to relieve others, that a traveler may proceed without delay.
2. Hunting dogs kept in readiness at certain places to pursue the game, when the dogs that have been in pursuit are weary.

RE-LAY, v.t. [re and lay.]

To lay again; to lay a second time; as, to relay a pavement. – Smollet.

RE-LAY-ING, ppr.

Laying a second time.

RE-LEAS-A-BLE, a.

That may be released.

RE-LEASE, n.

1. Liberation or discharge from restraint of any kind, as from confinement or bondage.
2. Liberation from care, pain or any burden.
3. Discharge from obligation or responsibility, as from debt, penalty or claim of any kind; acquittance.
4. In law, a release or deed of release is a conveyance of a man's right in lands or tenements to another who has some estate in possession; a quitclaim. The efficient words in such an instrument are, “remised, released, and forever quitclaimed.” – Blackstone.

RE-LEASE, v.t. [This is usually derived from Fr. relâcher, to slacken, to relax, It. rilassare and rilasciare, and these words have the sense of release; but the English word has not the sense of relax, but of re and lease, from Fr. laisser, Eng. let, a word that has no connection with relax. So in G. freilassen, D. vrylaaten; free and let. If it is from relâcher, it has undergone a strange alteration.]

1. To set free from restraint of any kind, either physical or moral; to liberate from prison, confinement or servitude. – Matth. xv. Mark xv.
2. To free from pain, care, trouble, grief, &c.
3. To free from obligation or penalty; as, to release one from debt, from a promise or covenant.
4. To quit; to let go, as a legal claim; as, to release a debt, or forfeiture. – Deut. xv.
5. To discharge or relinquish a right to lands or tenements, by conveying it to another that has some right or estate in possession, as when the person in remainder releases his right to the tenant in possession; when one co-parcener releases his right to the other; or the mortgagee releases his claim to the mortgager.
6. To relax. [Not in use.] – Hooker.

RE-LEAS-ED, pp.

Set free from confinement; freed from obligation or liability; freed from pain; quitclaimed.