relatedTo

Relatedto is a generic binary relation used in information systems to express that one item has some form of association with another. It appears as a property name in various data formats (for example JSON, XML, RDF) and is often written without spaces, such as relatedto or related_to in different communities. The exact semantics of relatedto are not standardized; it typically signals a contextual connection rather than a strict hierarchical or causal link. The meaning can range from similarity, relevance, or adjacency to a common context, depending on the data model and accompanying metadata.

In knowledge graphs and ontologies, relatedto is commonly modeled as a directed edge with domain and range defined by the dataset. Some implementations treat the relation as symmetric (if A relatedto B implies B relatedto A), while others require explicit direction for a particular interpretation (A is relatedto B in terms of topic, relevance, or co-occurrence). Because it is highly generic, many datasets replace relatedto with more specific predicates such as hasSimilarTopic, references, cites, partOf, or connectedTo, often to improve precision and interoperability.

Usage considerations include the need to document the intended meaning, ensure consistency across the data, and map the predicate to standardized vocabularies when integrating with others. See also relation types, predicate naming conventions, and knowledge graph design.