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say it: ree-LAY-shuhn
relation is a noun meaning "an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of two entities or parts together". It is pronounced /ɹiˈleɪʃən/ — ree-LAY-shuhn. It carries 6 recorded senses.
an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of two entities or parts together
sexual activity between individuals, especially the insertion of a man's penis into a woman's vagina until orgasm and ejaculation occur
an act of narration
“he was the hero according to his own relation”
“his endless recounting of the incident eventually became unbearable”
(law) the principle that an act done at a later time is deemed by law to have occurred at an earlier time
“his attorney argued for the relation back of the amended complaint to the time the initial complaint was filed”
law
(usually plural) mutual dealings or connections among persons or groups
“international relations”
plural
Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for relation come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.