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considered and judged by being compared with something else 相比较而言的；比较的 You must consider the relative merits of the two plans. 你必须考虑相比较之下两个计划各自的优点。 We need to assess the relative importance of each of these factors. 我们需要评估每个因素的相对重要性。 We need to assess the relative strengths and weaknesses of each system. 我们需要评估每个系统的相对优势和劣势。
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grammar 语法 referring to an earlier noun, sentence or part of a sentence （指代前面的名词、句子或句子的一部分） In ‘the man who came’, ‘who’ is a relative pronoun and ‘who came’ is a relative clause. 在 the man who came 中，who 是关系代词，而 who came 是关系从句。
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that exists or that has a particular quality only when compared with something else 相比之下存在（或有）的 They now live in relative comfort (= compared with how they lived before). 他们现在过得比较舒适。 We won the game with relative ease. 我们相对轻松地赢得了比赛。 Given the failure of the previous plan, this turned out to be a relative success. 由于前面那个计划失败了，这个计划算是比较成功的。 It's all relative though, isn't it? We never had any money when I was a kid and $500 was a fortune to us. 不过，一切都是相对的，不是吗？我小的时候，我们根本没有钱，500 美元对于我们来说就是很大的一笔钱了。
Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French relatif, -ive, from late Latin relativus ‘having reference or relation’, from the verb referre ‘carry back’, from re- ‘back’ + ferre ‘bring’.
Idioms
relative to somebody/something
in comparison with somebody/something else; in relation to somebody/something 关于（或涉及）…的 the position of the sun relative to the earth 太阳与地球的相对位置 The movements of the continents relative to each other can be measured. 可以测量各大陆之间的相对运动。 The company employs too many people relative to the size of its business. 该公司相对于业务规模雇用了太多员工。
having a connection with somebody/something; concerning somebody/something 关于（或涉及）…的 He may have information relative to the case. 他可能掌握有关此案的信息。