relativity

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

  1. noun (physics) the theory that space and time are relative concepts rather than absolute concepts
  2. noun the quality of being relative and having significance only in relation to something else

Etymology

From relative (“connected to or depending on something else”) + -ity (suffix forming nouns from adjectives where the nouns refer to the properties, qualities, or states described by the adjectives). Sense 2.1 (“reliance of the nature of physical phenomena on the relative motion between an observer and the thing observed”) is a translation of German Relativität (“relativity”) used in the works of the German-American theoretical physicist Albert Einstein (1879–1955). Morphologically relative + -ity.

In classic literature

Synonyms

theory of relativity, relativity theory, Einstein's theory of relativity

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