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relativity

relativity

7 7.8
A case where something's truth or value depends on another thing
  • noun
  • /ˌrɛlətˈævɪti/
translation icon : relatividad (cualidad)
  • The key notion, of course, is that of relativity of rights.
  • cultural relativity
  • relativity theory
  • moral relativity

Everything else is done in relativity to me.

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Examples

  • You are a moral man living in a world of moral relativity.

  • In this way, the reader sees the relativity of any scientific authority on the subject.

    Academic text (1990)
  • Everything else is done in relativity to me.

  • Objectivity and relativity can go together.

  • And there is a growing recognition of the relativity of much that once seemed rooted in traditions and institutions.

    Academic text (2001)
  • If we don't have any objective solid eternal truth, then everything is relative and relativity leads to chaos.

  • Even hardened criminals accept an unwritten code of relativity by which some crimes are more acceptable than others.

    Academic text (2001)
  • In any case, the strikingly philosophical tenor of the 1905 relativity paper is unmistakable.

    Academic text (2005)
  • The site contains Flash animations that illustrate principles in such categories as optics, sound waves, vectors, and relativity.

    Academic text (2006)
  • In discussions about morality, we often encounter the relativity of ethical principles across different cultures.

Antonyms

absolute
  • Specialized
14 9.9

A thing thought to exist on its own and beyond everything else

Compounds

theory of relativity
  • Specialized
12 6.7

A scientific idea that space and time are linked and change with motion and gravity

general relativity
  • Specialized
9 6.7

A scientific theory that says gravity is the bending of space and time by heavy things like stars and planets

3 6.8

A scientific idea that says gravity happens because space and time bend

A scientific idea that says space and time change depending on speed and gravity

special relativity
  • Specialized
2 7.1

A theory that says physics works the same for all objects moving at constant speed and light speed is constant

A theory by Albert Einstein that explains gravity as the bending of space and time

relativity theory
  • Specialized
1 6.5

A scientific idea by Einstein that space and time depend on how fast something moves

1 6.1

A scientific idea that space and time change with speed and that light has the same speed for all observers

A 1905 Einstein theory saying time and space change because light's speed is always the same

8.1

Explains gravity as the bending of space and time by heavy objects

7.9

Laws of physics are the same for people moving at a steady speed

7.3

A physics idea that light moves at the same speed and time and space change for moving people

How Absolute

absoluteness
1 7.5
completeness
7 4.2
relativity
7 7.8
limitation
167 3.3

Surface Forms

relativity singular
relativities plural

Morphology

relativity = relative (transparent) = relative + ity

Formed by the adjective 'relative' plus the noun-forming suffix '-ity', giving the clear meaning 'the state or quality of being relative'.

Etymology

Relativity comes from relative and relate, whose root means 'to connect'. So, something has relativity when its meaning or value only makes sense when you connect it to something else — it 'depends on' another thing.