- (transitive) to tell or narrate (a story, information, etc)
- (often followed by to) to establish association (between two or more things) or (of something) to have relation or reference (to something else)
- (intransitive) often followed by to: to form a sympathetic or significant relationship (with other people, things, etc)
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
re•late /rɪˈleɪt/USA pronunciation
v., -lat•ed, -lat•ing.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to tell (the story of something);
describe (an event or events);
narrate: [~ + object]She related the plot to the investigators.[~ + that clause]She related that she had left the office at noon. - to show an association or connection between two or more things:[~ + object]to relate events to probable causes.
- to have a connection: [~ + to + object][not: be + ~-ing]The one idea does not relate to the other.[no object]Those two ideas do not relate.
- to have or establish a sympathetic relationship or understanding:[~ + to + object]The two sisters were unable to relate to each other.
re•late
(ri lāt′),USA pronunciation v., -lat•ed, -lat•ing.
v.t.
v.i.
re•lat′a•bil′i•ty, n.
re•lat′a•ble, adj.
re•lat′er, n.
v.t.
- 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.
v.i.
- to have reference (often fol. by to).
- to have some relation (often fol. by to).
- to establish a social or sympathetic relationship with a person or thing:two sisters unable to relate to each other.
- Latin relātus, suppletive past participle of referre to carry back (see refer)
- 1480–90
re•lat′a•ble, adj.
re•lat′er, n.
- 1. 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.
- 2. dissociate.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
relate /rɪˈleɪt/ vb
'relate' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):
Algonquian
- appertain
- bear on
- concern
- connect
- construct
- credibility gap
- detail
- fable
- family therapy
- impart
- mythomania
- narrate
- object relations theory
- penal code
- preposition
- preterite
- record
- recount
- refer
- regard
- retail
- theme park
- West Lothian question
- yarn
- acanthology
- area study
- bear
- biolinguistics
- blend
- chronicle
- corelate
- coup
- delate
- describe
- deviate
- Galilean transformation
- generative semantics
- global tectonics
- Hegelian dialectic
- implicate
- intercorrelate
- isogram
- journalize
- legend
- long
- mirabile dictu
- misrelate
- mitzvah
- orient