relate

relate vb

1 Relate, rehearse, recite, recount, narrate, describe, state, report are comparable when they mean to tell orally or in writing the details or circumstances necessary to others' understanding or knowledge of a real or imagined situation or combination of events.

Relate implies the giving of a usually detailed or orderly account of something one has witnessed or experienced

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related the story of his life

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then Father Junipero and his companion related fully their adventure— Cather

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Rehearse usually suggests a repetition; it may imply a summary of what is known

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let us rehearse the few facts known of the inconspicuous life of Thomas Traherne— Quiller-Couch

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or a second or third or oft-repeated telling

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designed to fool the easily fooled ... it rehearsed all the lies with which we are now familiar— Shirer

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or a going over and over something in one's mind, or with another person, or in privacy before relating or some-times performing or presenting it to others or to an audience

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Mr. Hynes hesitated a little longer .... He seemed to be rehearsing the piece in his mind— Joyce

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felt certain . . . that his smile was as he had rehearsed it, polished and genially satanic— Hervey

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Recite and the more common recount imply greater particularity of detail than the preceding terms; in fact, the implication of enumeration or of mention of each particular is so strong that both verbs usually take a plural object; thus, one relates an experience, but he recites or recounts his experiences

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recite the events of the day

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as with all mysteries, it cannot be rationally explained, merely recounted— Shirer

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Narrate suggests the employment of devices characteristic of the literary narrative such as plot, creation of suspense, and movement toward a climax

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what verse can sing, what prose narrate the butcher deeds of bloody Fate— Burns

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the discovery of Madeira is narrated with all the exaggerations of romance— Southey

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Describe usually implies emphasis upon details that give the hearers or readers a clear picture or that give not only a visual representation but one that appeals to the other senses

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bitter sea and glowing light, bright clear air, dry as dry,—that describes the place— Jefferies

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described her ... as "a dear little thing. Rather brainy, but quite a nice little thing"— Gibbons

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State stresses particularity, clearness, and definiteness of detail, and suggests the aim of presenting material (as facts, ideas, or feelings) in their naked truth so that they will be distinctly understood or fixed in others' minds

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Dryden's words ... are precise, they state immensely, but their suggestiveness is often nothing— T. S. Eliot

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one should know what one thinks and what one means, and be able to state it in clear terms— Rose Macaulay

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Report implies a recounting and narrating, often after investigation, for the information of others

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report the progress on defense projects to the cabinet

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he was assigned to report the murder trial for the local newspaper

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in his letters Thaddeus reported approaching an island in an outrigger one evening— Cheever

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Analogous words: tell, *reveal, disclose, divulge: detail, itemize, particularize (see corresponding adjectives at CIRCUMSTANTIAL)

2 associate, link, connect, *join, conjoin, combine, unite

Analogous words: attach, *fasten, fix: refer, assign, credit, impute, *ascribe

Contrasted words: disengage, *detach, abstract: divorce, sever, sunder, *separate

3 *bear, pertain, appertain, belong, apply