ɹɪˈleɪʃ(ə)nʃɪp ɹɪˈleɪʃənˌʃɪp 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