What does relevancy mean?
Relevancy means the quality of being relevant: having a direct or useful connection with a particular subject, question, or purpose. It is most often used when assessing whether information, evidence, or an argument bears on the matter being considered. The phrase “the relevancy of the evidence,” for example, asks not merely whether evidence exists, but whether it has a meaningful bearing on the case. Although the word describes the same basic idea as relevance, it can sound more formal or technical and is less frequent in everyday English. In legal contexts, relevancy may also suggest the degree to which evidence is pertinent and therefore admissible. The word is especially useful when discussing connection, applicability, or significance rather than merely asserting that something is relevant.
nounThe quality or state of being relevant, especially the degree to which something is pertinent or applicable to a particular subject, situation, or question.
- The quality of being relevant or pertinent; the degree of connection with a subject, issue, or purpose.
"The judge considered the relevancy of each piece of evidence before reaching a decision."
"The relevance of the witness's testimony was challenged by the defence."
"Historians debated the relevancy of the episode to the broader period."
Relatively uncommon; plural forms are more readily understood when the intended sense is a number of separate grounds of relevance.
"The court considered the separate relevancies of the documents to the claim."
If it bears on the question, it has relevancy.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does relevancy come from?
Relevancy was formed in English from the adjective relevant, which was borrowed from French in the late Middle English period. Relevant comes from Latin relevans, a form of the present participle of relevere, meaning “to raise again” or “to lighten,” a sense related to raising or making something easier to bear. In English, relevant developed the meanings “apt or pertinent” and “having weight or importance,” from which the modern noun relevancy was derived.
Related word forms
How relevancy is actually used
Relevancy is somewhat formal and less common than relevance. It occurs especially in legal, academic, and analytical contexts, where it can denote either the relevance of something or, in older usage, the degree of its relevance.
Easily confused with relevancy
Relevancy and relevance both mean the quality of being relevant, but relevance is the more common modern noun, while relevancy can sound more formal or technical.