Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “relate” come from?

Relate comes from Latin relatus, the past participle of referre, formed from the prefix re- meaning "back" and ferre meaning "to carry," ultimately from Proto-Indo-European bʰer-.

relate (English): To tell in a descriptive way; To bring into a...

Definitions

  1. To tell in a descriptive way; To bring into a...

Ancestry of “relate”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinrelātus—
2Latinreferō—
3Latinrĕ-—
4Latinprōdūcō—
5Latinprō-—
6Proto-Italic*pro-—
7Proto-Indo-Europeanpro-toward, forward
8Proto-Indo-Europeanpor-to give birth; forward, through; going, passage
9Proto-Indo-Europeanper-before, in front; first; to go through
10Proto-Indo-Europeanpr̥tóspassed , crossed

Words derived from “relate”

  • relationship
  • relations
  • relation
  • relative
  • relatively
  • relate
  • relational
  • relativism
  • relativistic
  • interrelationship
  • interrelation
  • relativist
  • relationality
  • relationally
  • interrelate
  • relativization
  • nonrelativistic
  • relativize
  • relatable
  • relater
  • relationalism
  • nonrelational
  • interrelational
  • nonrelative
Every word from Proto-Indo-European pr̥tós →