re⋅la⋅tion

1.	an existing connection; a significant association between or among things: the relation between cause and effect.

2.	relations, a. the various connections between peoples, countries, etc.: foreign relations. b. the various connections in which persons are brought together: business and social relations. c. sexual intercourse.

3.	the mode or kind of connection between one person and another, between an individual and God, etc.

4.	connection between persons by blood or marriage.

5.	a person who is related by blood or marriage; relative: his wife's relations.

6.	the act of relating, narrating, or telling; narration.

7.	Law. a principle whereby effect is given to an act done at one time as if it had been done at a previous time.

8.	Mathematics. a. a property that associates two quantities in a definite order, as equality or inequality. b. a single- or multiple-valued function.