relate
[ri-leyt]
- to tell; give an account of (an event, circumstance, etc.).
- to bring into or establish association, connection, or relation: to relate events to probable causes.
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- to have reference (often followed by to).
- to have some relation (often followed by to).
- to establish a social or sympathetic relationship with a person or thing: two sisters unable to relate to each other.
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Origin of relate
Synonyms
See more synonyms for relate on Thesaurus.com1. narrate, delineate, detail, repeat. Relate, recite, recount, rehearse mean to tell, report, or describe in some detail an occurrence or circumstance. To relate is to give an account of happenings, events, circumstances, etc.: to relate one's adventures. To recite may mean to give details consecutively, but more often applies to the repetition from memory of something learned with verbal exactness: to recite a poem. To recount is usually to set forth consecutively the details of an occurrence, argument, experience, etc., to give an account in detail: to recount an unpleasant experience. Rehearse implies some formality and exactness in telling, sometimes with repeated performance as for practice before final delivery: to rehearse one's side of a story. 2. ally.
Antonyms
2. dissociate.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for relate
Contemporary Examples
I am not remotely embarrassed to relate he weighed just 9lb.
That the song has become so indelible is likely owed to the fact that we can all sort of relate.
We were drawn to music from the outside, so we are able to relate to the outside world.
The Sisterhood of Bulletproof Stockings: It’s Ladies’ Night for Hasidic RockersEmily Shire
September 30, 2014
People are starting to recognize that depression must relate to biology, because who would give up such an outwardly gifted life?
Populating that name with examples that people can relate to makes it understandable.
Historical Examples
Many other things I saw and heard, but was forbidden to relate.
PhilotheaLydia Maria Child
It would be tedious to relate each step of the ensuing negotiations.
The Leopard WomanStewart Edward White
Both our passages were pleasant, and give me nothing to relate.
Ned MyersJames Fenimore Cooper
She was anxious to talk of her niece, and to relate how she had been singing my praises to Monny.
It Happened in EgyptC. N. Williamson
When I have no events to relate, still I must write to convey to you my sentiments.
Tales And Novels, Volume 8 (of 10)Maria Edgeworth
relate
- (tr) to tell or narrate (a story, information, etc)
- (often foll by to) to establish association (between two or more things) or (of something) to have relation or reference (to something else)
- (intr often foll by to) to form a sympathetic or significant relationship (with other people, things, etc)
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Word Origin
C16: from Latin relātus brought back, from referre to carry back, from re- + ferre to bear; see refer
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for relate
v.
1520s, "to recount, tell," from Middle French relater "refer, report" (14c.) and directly from Latin relatus, used as past participle of referre "bring back, bear back" (see refer), from re- "back, again" + latus (see oblate (n.)).
Meaning "stand in some relation; have reference or respect" is from 1640s; transitive sense of "bring (something) into relation with (something else)" is from 1690s. Meaning "to establish a relation between" is from 1771. Sense of "to feel connected or sympathetic to" is attested from 1950, originally in psychology jargon. Related: Related; relating.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper