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relativity: Word of the day for March 14, 2021

relativity , n :
(uncountable) The state of being relative to something else; the absence of universally applicable rules or standards; relativism; (countable) an instance of this. (uncountable, physics) Short for principle of relativity (“the principle that the laws of physics should be the same for all observers”). (specifically) Also Einsteinian relativity: the reliance of the nature of physical phenomena (such as gravity, light, mass, and time) on the relative motion between an observer and the thing observed, as developed by Albert Einstein in two theories, special relativity and general relativity. (countable, chiefly in the plural) An evaluation of the similarities and differences between things; a comparison; hence, a difference in position or status between things; a disparity. (economics, specifically) The difference in pay or positions between different employees in a business (internal relativity), or between different businesses (external relativity); a differential. The German-born theoretical physicist Albert Einstein, known for developing the theory of relativity, was born on this day in 1879.

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