English
relative
Relative comes from Old French relatif, from Late Latin relātīvus, from relātus ‘carried back’, from the stem of lātus, of uncertain origin.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElātus1‘borne, carried’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErelātus1‘carried back; related’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CErelātīvus1‘relative’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600relatif1‘relative’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602relative1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English relative
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “The Spirit that I haue ſeene May be the…”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CElātusWiktionary, English relative‘borne, carried’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CErelātusWiktionary, English relative‘carried back; related’
- Late Latinc. 200–600 CErelātīvusWiktionary, English relative‘relative’
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600relatifWiktionary, English relative‘relative’
- Englishearliest quotation c. 1599–1602relativeWiktionary, English relative. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: c. 1599–1602, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: “The Spirit that I haue ſeene May be the…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- ‘to bear, carry’
bar, birth, broad, prefer, fortune, bread, burden, bearing, barn, fury, baron, bark, barrel, bore, breeze, berth, broom, barrow, embargo, fret, ferret, insufferable, bier, bahar, proffer, birr, bairn, burnish, furtive, barrette, 114 more
through Proto-Indo-European *bʰéreti ‘to bear, carry’
bear, borne, phosphorus, phosphate, euphoria, dysphoria, semaphore, indifferently, phosphine, 92 more
through Proto-Italic *ferō ‘to carry, bear’
suffering, differently, indifferent, differentiation, infertility, deference, infertile, differentially, differentiable, deferential, differentiator, 69 more
through Latin ferō ‘to bear or carry’
different, offer, difference, transfer, suffer, extraordinary, differ, translation, frustration, fertility, translate, strangely, fertile, extravagant, defer, confer, infer, infra, frustrate, extraneous, fertilization, strangeness, fertilize, elated, ablation, estrange, collation, collate, dilate, efferent, elation, oblate, ablative, 80 more
through Latin referō ‘to carry back, to ascribe’
Today it means
adj Connected to or depending on something else; comparative.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “relative”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin lātus / relative