relevance

Etymology

It was formed from English relevant + -ance in English,^[2][3][4][5] or perhaps as a back-formation from the earlier relevancy.^[6] The adjective relevant comes from Medieval Latin relevāns (“legitimate, pertinent”), a medieval use of the present participle of relevō (“to raise up, lighten, relieve”),^[2][6][7][8] the verb behind relieve.^[3][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Scots law, legal sufficiency, the adequacy of a charge or claim: 1625,^[2] although the OED notes that its quotations of 1625 and 1661 may be spellings of relevancy.^[2] Barnhart and Etymonline date relevance to 1733,^[10][3] and relevancy to 1561.^[10][11]

Semantic evolution

Like relevant, the word was at first a Scottish legal term and came into general English only after 1800.^[6][7][3] The general sense, connection with the matter in hand, is recorded from 1787.^[2] In the 20th century it came to be used without any stated subject for pertinence to current issues and needs, from 1935.^[2][4] In computing it has meant, since 1960, how well a document or search result meets a user's needs.^[2][11]

Timeline

• 1561 – relevancy.^[10][11]
• 1625 – (Scots law) legal sufficiency.^[2]
• 1733 – relevance, in Barnhart and Etymonline.^[10][3]
• 1787 – connection with the matter in hand.^[2]
• 1935 – pertinence to current issues.^[2]
• 1960 – (computing) the degree to which a result meets a search.^[2]

Modern meaning

Noun

1. Close connection with or bearing on the matter being considered: The judge questioned the relevance of the evidence.
2. Importance or usefulness to present-day concerns or needs: Critics doubt the play's relevance to young audiences.
3. (computing) How well retrieved information matches what a user was searching for.

Related words

• relevant
• irrelevant
• relieve
• lever

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c d e Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ a b c Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
7. ^ a b Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
8. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
9. ^ Partridge, Eric (1966), Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, 4th ed., London: Routledge & Kegan Paul
10. ^ a b c d Barnhart, Robert K., ed. (1995), The Barnhart Concise Dictionary of Etymology, New York: HarperCollins
11. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster