ENGLISH
REFERENCE

relational

adj.
C1 Advanced US //ɹiˈɫeɪʃənəɫ// UK //ɹɪlˈeɪʃənəl// re·la·tion·al

adj. describing how two or more things are connected or how they affect each other.

adj. concerning the way in which two or more people or things are connected. Often used in technical contexts to describe data structures or social interactions.


SIMPLE

The therapist focused on the couple's relational problems.

CONTEXTUAL

In database management, relational systems organize information into tables that are linked by shared keys.

COMPLEX

The artist's work explores relational aesthetics, prioritizing the social interactions and human context that emerge during the exhibition over the physical art objects themselves.

Origin

From relation + -al. The database sense is from the definition of relation as a set of ordered tuples.

Usage

Typically used attributively before a noun; common in academic, psychological, and technical registers.

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