relación

Forms

relación f (plural relaciones)^[1] Old Spanish texts write relaçion, relaçiones and rellacion.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin relātiō (“a carrying back; a report; a relation”), a learned word.^[4][5][6][1] The Latin noun was formed on the supine stem ⟨relāt-⟩ of referō (“to carry back, report, refer”) with the suffix -tiō.^[7][1][8] The verb itself is re- (“back”) and ferō (“to carry”).^[1]

Corominas treats the word under PREFERIR, among the learned words of the same Latin family, and lists relatar, relativo and relacionar beside it.^[4] He dates it from about 1440, with Juan de Mena and Santillana; the CDH has Spanish examples from the late 13th century.^[4][5][3] The same Latin word gave Portuguese relação, Catalan relació, French relation and Italian relazione.^{[9][10][11][1]} Nascentes considers the Portuguese word semi-learned.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest hit in the CDH is the plural relaçiones in the Libro de los doce sabios (c. 1237), but that text survives only in a copy of the late 14th or early 15th century.^[3][2] Alfonso X's Cánones de Albateni (1276–1277) uses a relacion de in astronomy, of the parts of a shadow measured “in relation to” the cathetus: the sense of connection or proportion.^[3][13] The Libro de los fueros de Castiella (before 1284) has the other main sense, a report: the king asks Diego López de Salcedo to examine the complaints and le fiziesse relaçión d'ellas “give him an account of them”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In Latin relātiō was the laying of a matter before the Senate and then a report or testimony; from the 1st century AD it was also the logical term for a link between two things.^[7][11][14] Spanish took over both lines, the account of events and the connection between things.^[13][3] Alonso de Palencia (1490) explains the logical sense with the example of father and son, and Nebrija gives Latin relatio and narratio as its equivalents.^[4][15]

The Diccionario de Autoridades defines it first as the narration or report of something that happened, then as the brief report on a lawsuit made to the judge, and as one of the ten categories of logic.^[16] The Academy's dictionary of 1899 adds dealings and communication between persons, mostly in the plural, and the long speech of a character in a dramatic poem.^[17] Baralt in 1855 objected to con relación a as a translation of French par rapport, but the phrase stayed.^[18][1]

In the Americas the word is recorded from 1521, in Cuba, in phrases such as falsa relaçión “false report”.^[19] In Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay a relación is the couplet the partners say to each other in some traditional dances, such as the pericón and the gato.^[20][21][6] On La Palma, in the Canaries, relaciones are sung duels between two singers, often about love.^[22][1] Malaret also records a Mexican sense “hidden treasure”.^[21]

Timeline

• c. 1237 – relaçiones in the Libro de los doce sabios, known from a copy of about 1400.^[3]
• 1276–1277 – Alfonso X's Cánones de Albateni has a relacion de “in relation to”.^[3][13]
• before 1284 – the Libro de los fueros de Castiella uses fazer relaçión “to give an account”.^[3]
• c. 1440 – Corominas's date of first record, from Juan de Mena and Santillana.^[5][4]
• 1490 – Alonso de Palencia defines the logical sense.^[4]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin relatio and narratio.^[15]
• 1521 – first record in the Americas, falsa relaçión in Cuba.^[19]
• 1726–1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades records the narrative, legal and logical senses.^[16]
• 1855 – Baralt criticises con relación a as a Gallicism.^[18]
• 1899 – the Academy adds dealings between persons and the dramatic speech.^[17]

Meanings

Noun

1. An account or exposition of a fact or event: Hizo una relación detallada del viaje.^[6][23]
2. A connection or correspondence between one thing and another.^[6][1]
3. (often in the plural) Dealings, contact or communication between people: relaciones de amistad, relaciones comerciales.^[6][23]
4. (often in the plural) A love affair or relationship: Llevan dos años de relaciones.^[6][1]
5. A list of names or items of any kind.^[6]
6. A report, usually written, presented to an authority.^[6]
7. (theatre) In a dramatic poem, a long speech in which a character narrates something.^[6]
8. (grammar) The connection between two terms of the same sentence.^[6]
9. (mathematics) The result of comparing two quantities expressed in numbers; a ratio.^[6]
10. (Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay) A couplet that the partners say to each other in some traditional dances.^[6][20]
11. (in the plural) Influential friends or acquaintances; connections: Consiguió el puesto gracias a sus relaciones.^[6][23]

Word family

• relacional
• relacionar
• relacionero

Related words

• relativo
• relatar
• relato
• referir
• correlación
• Latin relātiō
• Portuguese relação

Usage notes

Set phrases include con relación a and en relación con “with regard to”, relaciones públicas “public relations”, and relación de ciego, a ballad sold by blind singers, figuratively a dull recitation.^[1][6][24]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. relación
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. relación
4. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 632
5. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. referir
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. relación
7. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 601
9. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 2875
10. ^ Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. relació
11. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
12. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. relação
13. ^ a b c Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. relación
14. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. relación
15. ^ a b Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. relación
16. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 5, s.v. relación
17. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 858
18. ^ a b Baralt, Rafael María (1855), Diccionario de galicismos, Madrid: Imprenta de J. Cruzado, p. 602
19. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. relación
20. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. relación
21. ^ a b Malaret, Augusto (1946), Diccionario de americanismos, 3rd ed., Buenos Aires: Emecé, p. 711
22. ^ Academia Canaria de la Lengua (2010), Diccionario básico de canarismos, Santa Cruz de Tenerife; online at https://www.academiacanarialengua.org, p. s.v. relación
23. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. relación
24. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. relación