What characterizes a one-to-many relationship in a database?

A one-to-many relationship in a database is characterized by the scenario where a single record in one table (often referred to as the "parent" table) can correspond to multiple records in another table (known as the "child" table). This type of relationship is fundamental in database design as it allows for the efficient organization of data and prevents redundancy.

For instance, consider a database containing data about books and authors. One author can write multiple books, so the author record can exist in the parent table while each book they have written appears as a separate record in the child table. This structure enables databases to maintain related data efficiently without duplication and allows for easy retrieval when querying the data.

In contrast, the other options represent different relationship dynamics that do not align with the one-to-many concept. For example, a relationship where one record relates to one record defines a one-to-one relationship, while many records relating to many records indicates a many-to-many relationship. The statement about a record existing only in a single table doesn't pertain to the concepts of relationships between tables and therefore does not apply to this context.