a relation between people; (`relationship' is often used where `relation' would serve, as in `the relationship between inflation and unemployment', but the preferred usage of `relationship' is for human relations or states of relatedness); "the relationship between mothers and their children"
a state of connectedness between people (especially an emotional connection); "he didn't want his wife to know of the relationship"
a state involving mutual dealings between people or parties or countries
a tendency to express warm and affectionate feeling
warm compassionate feelings
a pain that is felt (as when the area is touched); "the best results are generally obtained by inserting the needle into the point of maximum tenderness"; "after taking a cold, rawness of the larynx and trachea come on"
the act of pairing a male and female for reproductive purposes; "the casual couplings of adolescents"; "the mating of some species occurs only in the spring"
a mechanical device that serves to connect the ends of adjacent objects
the fusion of originally different inflected forms (resulting in a reduction in the use of inflections)
the union (or attempted fusion) of different systems of thought or belief (especially in religion or philosophy); "a syncretism of material and immaterial theories"