Compound of 縁 (connection, tie) + 者 (person). Formal vocabulary, more often seen in written language or legal/genealogical contexts than in everyday conversation.
Common collocations
- 親類縁者: relatives and connections (set phrase)
- 遠い縁者: a distant relation
- 縁者にあたる: to be a relation (of someone)
Similar words
- 親戚: relatives — the everyday word; usually blood/marriage relatives
- 親類: relatives — similar to 親戚 but slightly more formal
- 身内: family; one's own people — emphasizes the inner circle of close kin