relatedness

American  

[ri-ley-tid-nis] / rɪˈleɪ tɪd nɪs /

noun

1. the state or condition of being associated or connected in content, purpose, effect, etc..

   The paper makes much of the relatedness between anthropology and folklore studies.

   These two committees often meet in the same week because of staffing efficiencies and the relatedness of the issues.

2. the quality, condition, or degree of being allied or linked by nature, origin, kinship, or an emotional or spiritual bond.

   DNA fingerprinting allows us to identify relatedness between individuals.

   Both theories emphasize the basic human need for relatedness that underlies interpersonal or social behavior.

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Other Word Forms

• unrelatedness noun

Etymology

Origin of relatedness

First recorded in 1670–80; related ( def. ) + -ness ( def. )

Example Sentences

These findings speak directly to a broader scientific debate about whether close genetic relatedness is necessary for complex social systems to evolve.

From Science Daily • Jan. 31, 2026

The notion of genetic relatedness — IVF kind of broke that.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 27, 2024

Archaeology can help guide those readings, as an early study of biological relatedness showed.

From Science Magazine • Oct. 4, 2023

Over hundreds of millions of years, gene sequences mutate so much that any signal about the relatedness of different lineages is washed out.

From Scientific American • May 17, 2023

How then should we understand the biological relatedness of Sapiens, Neanderthals and Denisovans?

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari