the act of relating or telling; also, that which is related; recital; account; narration; narrative; as, the relation of historical events.-the state of being related or of referring; what is apprehended as appertaining to a being or quality, by considering it in its bearing upon something else; relative quality or condition; the being such and such with regard or respect to some other thing; connection; as, the relation of experience to knowledge; the relation of master to servant.-reference; respect; regard.-connection by consanguinity or affinity; kinship; relationship; as, the relation of parents and children.-a person connected by cosanguinity or affinity; a relative; a kinsman or kinswoman.-the carrying back, and giving effect or operation to, an act or proceeding frrom some previous date or time, by a sort of fiction, as if it had happened or begun at that time. in such case the act is said to take effect by relation.-the act of a relator at whose instance a suit is begun.