Emily Dickinson Lexicon

REL'E-VANT, a. [Fr. from L. relever, to relieve, to advance, to raise; re and lever, to raise.]

1. Relieving; lending aid or support. – Pownall.
2. Pertinent; applicable. The testimony is not relevant to the case. The argument is not relevant to the question. [This is the sense in which the word is now generally used.]
3. Sufficient to support the cause. – Scots Law.