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relative pronoun

noun

one of the pronouns who, whom, which, what, their compounds with -ever or -soever, or that used as the subordinating word to introduce a subordinate clause, especially such a pronoun referring to an antecedent.

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Nearby words

  1. relative molecular mass,
  2. relative permeability,
  3. relative permittivity,
  4. relative pitch,
  5. relative polycythemia,
  6. relative scotoma,
  7. relative specificity,
  8. relative temperature scale,
  9. relative to,
  10. relative topology
Compare definite relative pronoun, indefinite relative pronoun.

Origin of relative pronoun

First recorded in 1520–30

Usage note

See who.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019