Learned to relate it better (8)
I believe the answer is:
literate
'learned' is the definition.
(synonyms)
'relate it better' is the wordplay.
'better' indicates an anagram (with an improved letter-order).
'relate'+'it'='relateit'
'relateit' is an anagram of 'LITERATE'.
'to' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for literate that I've seen before include "Relate it, being well read" , "well expressed" , "Learned" , "Able to read and write" , "Well-read" .)