related
Americanadjective
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associated; connected.
- Synonyms:
- affiliated, relevant
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allied by nature, origin, kinship, marriage, etc.
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narrated, recounted, or told.
There were two eyewitnesses, but their related accounts were completely different.
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Music. (of chords, scales, or tones) having a close harmonic or melodic connection.
adjective
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connected; associated
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connected by kinship or marriage
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(in diatonic music) denoting or relating to a key that has notes in common with another key or keys
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of related
Explanation
Things are related when there's some connection or similarity between them. The fact that you caught a cold might be related to the fact that the kids you babysat sneezed and coughed all night long. People are related when they share a family connection, and other things are related by different kinds of connections. One poem is related to another if they come from the same school or movement of poetry, and a boy's dislike of baseball is probably related to the fact that his first coach yelled a lot. The verb relate is at the root of related, from the Latin relatus, "brought back."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The public inquiry heard how staff at a number of organisations, including Nottinghamshire Police, inappropriately viewed records or information related to the fatal attacks.
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026
Cities have spent hundreds of millions of dollars related to this once-in-a-generation sporting event.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026
However, treatment discontinuation and hospitalizations related to hyperkalaemia were uncommon.
From Science Daily • Jun. 8, 2026
Bankman-Fried was given a 25-year sentence after he was convicted of multiple federal charges related to FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange that he founded and led, and its related company Alameda Research.
From BBC • Jun. 8, 2026
For everything in the universe to be governed by ratios, as the Pythagoreans hoped, everything that made sense in the universe had to be related to a nice, neat proportion.
From "Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea" by Charles Seife
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.