relevant English · revision 4414

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1560|origins=la relevare}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈrel.ə.vənt/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la-med|relevāns|alt=relevantem]] (nominative relevans),^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) the present participle of Latin [[m|la|relevāre|t=to raise up, lighten, relieve]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(MWU 2024) the source of [[relieve]].^(Barnhart 1988) Etymonline also points to French relevant “depending upon”.^(Etymonline) In Medieval Latin relevare also meant to take up possession of a fief.^(SOED 2002)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ “Bearing upon, pertinent to the matter in hand”: 1560 in the OED and Barnhart,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) the 1550s in Etymonline.^(Etymonline) Merriam-Webster Unabridged has a first use in 1516.^(MWU 2024)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In early use the word was Scottish and probably legal: in Scots law, legally pertinent or sufficient, from 1561.^(Hoad 1986)^(OED 1989) Relevant and its relatives came into general English use only after 1800.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)^(Etymonline) Johnson defined it in 1755 as “relieving”,^(Johnson 1755) a sense the OED records once, from 1730, as obsolete and rare.^(OED 1989) ''Relevance'' is from 1733 and ''relevancy'' from 1561.^(Barnhart 1988) The sense “having social relevance”, of current interest, is in Merriam-Webster.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1560 – pertinent.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1561 – in Scots law.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1733 – ''relevance''.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1755 – Johnson: “relieving”.^(Johnson 1755)

+ * after 1800 – in general use.^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Having a bearing on or connection with the matter at hand; [[pertinent]].^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Tending to prove or disprove the point at issue: ''relevant [[testimony]]''.^(MW Collegiate)

+ # Of current social or practical importance.^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[relevantly]]

+ * [[relevance]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[relevancy]]

+ * [[relief]]

+ * [[relieve]]

+ * [[reliever]]

+ * [[irrelevant]]

+ * [[elevate]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The American Heritage separates relevant from pertinent, germane, material, apposite and apropos: relevant is simply connected with the subject, while pertinent stresses a logical and precise bearing on it.^(AHD)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}