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semblable

[sem-bluh-buh l]
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noun
  1. a person or thing that resembles or matches another; counterpart.
  2. Archaic. likeness; resemblance.
adjective Archaic.
  1. like or similar.
  2. seeming or apparent.

Origin of semblable

1325–75; Middle English < Middle French, equivalent to sembl(er) to seem + -able -able. See semblance
Related formssem·bla·bly, adverb
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for semblable

Historical Examples

  • He said to them, "Suffice you with that I have said to you, for all be semblable in malice."

    Fifteenth Century Prose and Verse

    Various

  • And in semblable wise it was saide of Johan duke Dux Bedfordi.

  • I was so elate and hauteyn in my heart that I thought no man my peer, nor to me semblable.

  • Here I have written half a sheet with a picture in my mind of which you are getting no semblable idea.

    Pencillings by the Way

    N. Parker Willis

  • She is no minikin Michael or Guy or Maurice, but a semblable moving figure.

British Dictionary definitions for semblable

semblable

adjective
  1. resembling or similar
  2. apparent rather than real
noun
  1. something that resembles another thing
  2. a resemblance
Derived Formssemblably, adverb

Word Origin

C14: from Old French, from sembler to seem; see semblance
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for semblable

adj.

"resembling," late 14c., from Old French semblable (12c.), from sembler "to be like" (see semblance).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper