relate
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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to have reference (often followed byto ).
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to have some relation (often followed byto ).
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to establish a social or sympathetic relationship with a person or thing.
two sisters unable to relate to each other.
verb
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(tr) to tell or narrate (a story, information, etc)
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(often foll by to) to establish association (between two or more things) or (of something) to have relation or reference (to something else)
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to form a sympathetic or significant relationship (with other people, things, etc)
Synonym Usage
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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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relatesimple
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relatessimple
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have relatedperfect
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has relatedperfect
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am relatingprogressive
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are relatingprogressive
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is relatingprogressive
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have been relatingperfect progressive
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has been relatingperfect progressive
Past
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relatedsimple
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had relatedperfect
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was relatingprogressive
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were relatingprogressive
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had been relatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of relate
First recorded in 1480–90; from Latin relātus, past participle of referre “to carry back” ( see refer)
Explanation
The verb relate means "to make a connection." If you can relate to someone's story, something like that has happened to you. Relate also means "to give an account of something verbally," like relating details of your trip to Sweden. That meaning of relate comes from the Latin word relatus, meaning "to recount, tell." If you talk about the federal budget crisis, people might not be interested until you relate it, meaning "explain the relationship between," to the possible job cuts at your local schools and police departments.
Vocabulary lists containing relate
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Stamp Act (1765)
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Beowulf vocabulary
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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.
There, Mr. Hilmes took care to come back to those characters to relate what happened to them.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 17, 2026
The momentum in the chip sector could also relate to general market enthusiasm for assets typically deemed to be riskier.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 15, 2026
“Roku’s revenues are by now majority advertising-dependent, but its costs primarily relate to manufacturing and related software development as well as physical marketing and distribution of its devices,” the team said.
From Barron's • Jun. 15, 2026
This absence from competitive golf is not thought to relate to the alleged incident at the Farms Golf Club.
From BBC • Jun. 12, 2026
There were a lot of things I could relate to about her.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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.
