Adjacent Words

Comparison definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

COMPARISON, n.
1. The act of comparing; the act of considering the relation between persons or things, with a view to discover their agreement or resemblance, or their disagreement or difference.
We learn to form a correct estimate of men and their actions by comparison.
2. The state of being compared.
If we rightly estimate what we call good and evil, we shall find it lies much in comparison.
3. Comparative estimate; proportion.
Who is left among you that saw this house in its first glory? And how do you see it now? Is it not in your eyes in comparison of it as nothing? Haggi 2.
4. In grammar, the formation of an adjective in its several degrees of signification; as strong, stronger, strongest; greenish, green, greener, greenest; glorious, more glorious, most glorious. In English, there are strictly four degrees of comparison.
5. A simile, similitude, or illustration by similitude.
Whereto shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what comparison shall we compare it? Mark 4.
6. In rhetoric, a figure by which two things are considered with regard to a third, which is common to them both; as, a hero is like a lion in courage. Here courage is common to hero and lion, and constitutes the point of resemblance.
The distinction between similitude and comparison is, that the former has reference to the quality; the latter, to the quantity. Comparison is between more and less; similitude is between good and gad. Hannibal--hung like a tempest on the declivities of the Alps--is a likeness by similitude. The sublimity of the scriptural prophets exceeds that of Homer, as much as thunder is louder than a whisper--is a likeness by comparison.
But comparison has reference to quality as well as quantity.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the act of examining resemblances; "they made a comparison of noise levels"; "the fractions selected for comparison must require pupils to consider both numerator and denominator" [syn: comparison, comparing]
2: relation based on similarities and differences
3: qualities that are comparable; "no comparison between the two books"; "beyond compare" [syn: comparison, compare, equivalence, comparability]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French comparison, from Latin comparation-, comparatio, from comparare Date: 14th century 1. the act or process of comparing: as a. the representing of one thing or person as similar to or like another b. an examination of two or more items to establish similarities and dissimilarities <his faults seem minor by comparison> 2. identity of features ; similarity <several points of comparison between the two> 3. the modification of an adjective or adverb to denote different levels of quality, quantity, or relation

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the act or an instance of comparing. 2 a simile or semantic illustration. 3 capacity for being likened; similarity (there's no comparison). 4 (in full degrees of comparison) Gram. the positive, comparative, and superlative forms of adjectives and adverbs. Phrases and idioms: bear (or stand) comparison (often foll. by with) be able to be compared favourably. beyond comparison 1 totally different in quality. 2 greatly superior; excellent. in comparison with compared to. Etymology: ME f. OF comparesoun f. L comparatio -onis (as COMPARE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Comparison Com*par"i*son (? or ?), n. [F. comparaison, L. comparatio. See 1st Compare.] 1. The act of comparing; an examination of two or more objects with the view of discovering the resemblances or differences; relative estimate. As sharp legal practitioners, no class of human beings can bear comparison with them. --Macaulay. The miracles of our Lord and those of the Old Testament afford many interesting points of comparison. --Trench. 2. The state of being compared; a relative estimate; also, a state, quality, or relation, admitting of being compared; as, to bring a thing into comparison with another; there is no comparison between them. 3. That to which, or with which, a thing is compared, as being equal or like; illustration; similitude. Whereto shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what comparison shall we compare it? --Mark iv. 30. 4. (Gram.) The modification, by inflection or otherwise, which the adjective and adverb undergo to denote degrees of quality or quantity; as, little, less, least, are examples of comparison. 5. (Rhet.) A figure by which one person or thing is compared to another, or the two are considered with regard to some property or quality, which is common to them both; e.g., the lake sparkled like a jewel. 6. (Phren.) The faculty of the reflective group which is supposed to perceive resemblances and contrasts. Beyond comparison, so far superior as to have no likeness, or so as to make comparison needless. In comparison of, In comparison with, as compared with; in proportion to. [Archaic] ``So miserably unpeopled in comparison of what it once was.'' --Addison. Comparison of hands (Law), a mode of proving or disproving the genuineness of a signature or writing by comparing it with another proved or admitted to be genuine, in order to ascertain whether both were written by the same person. --Bouvier. --Burrill.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Comparison Com*par"i*son, v. t. To compare. [Obs.] --Wyclif.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(comparisons) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. When you make a comparison, you consider two or more things and discover the differences between them. ...a comparison of the British and German economies... Its recommendations are based on detailed comparisons between the public and private sectors... There are no previous statistics for comparison. N-VAR: oft N of/between pl-n 2. When you make a comparison, you say that one thing is like another in some way. It is demonstrably an unfair comparison... The comparison of her life to a sea voyage simplifies her experience. N-COUNT 3. If you say, for example, that something is large or small in comparison with, in comparison to, or by comparison with something else, you mean that it is larger or smaller than the other thing. The amount of carbon dioxide released by human activities such as burning coal and oil is small in comparison... Those places are modern by comparison with Tresillian. PHRASE: oft PHR with/to n 4. If you say there is no comparison between one thing and another, you mean that you think the first thing is much better than the second, or very different from it. There is no comparison between the knowledge and skill of such a player and the ordinary casual participant. PHRASE: oft PHR between pl-n [emphasis]

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Collation, compare, relative estimate, comparative estimate. 2. Simile, similitude.

Moby Thesaurus

accordance, affinity, agent, agreement, alikeness, alliance, alternate, alternative, analogy, aping, approach, approximation, assimilation, backup, balance, balancing, change, changeling, closeness, commensurability, community, comparability, conformity, contrast, contrasting, copy, copying, correspondence, counterfeit, deputy, double, dummy, equal, equivalent, ersatz, exchange, fake, fill-in, ghost, ghostwriter, identity, imitation, juxtaposing, juxtaposition, kinship, likeness, likening, locum tenens, makeshift, match, metaphor, metonymy, mimicking, nearness, next best thing, parallelism, parity, personnel, phony, pinch hitter, proxy, relation, relationship, relief, replacement, representative, resemblance, reserves, ringer, sameness, second string, secondary, semblance, sign, similarity, simile, similitude, simulation, spares, stand-in, sub, substituent, substitute, substitution, succedaneum, superseder, supplanter, surrogate, symbol, synecdoche, third string, token, understudy, utility player, vicar, vice-president, vice-regent, weighing