The etymology of "relationality" comes from the Latin root relatio, meaning "a report" or "a bringing back," and the English suffix "-ity," which forms abstract nouns. "Relationality" itself is an 1866 formation meaning the state of being related or connected, derived from the word "relational," which signifies something "of, like, or pertaining to a relation".
Relationality is a concept, practice, ethics, and politics that challenges the dominant modern ontology of separation underpinning capitalism, colonialism, and state power. Rooted in Indigenous cosmovisions and expanded by activist and scholarly debates, relationality posits radical interdependence among humans, non-humans, and earth-beings as the foundation of reality.