analogical
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of analogical
First recorded in 1560–70; from Latin analogic(us) (from Greek analogikós; see analogy, -ic) + -al 1
Explanation
Something analogical compares two different things. An analogical expression might be "My house is so cold it's like a refrigerator in here." An analogy is a comparison — usually either a metaphor or a simile — that helps to explain something or make it clearer. Analogical things use analogies or refer to them. A comparison like "You are quiet as a mouse" or "My brother was a pig at dinner" is analogical. The Greek root is analogos, "proportionate."
Vocabulary lists containing analogical
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
After all, we know quite a lot about how the founders approached historical analogical reasoning.
From Slate • Feb. 15, 2023
Over time, the analogical arguments used in Buddhist texts took on structure.
From Textbooks • Jun. 15, 2022
In fact, nobody in this cold, hard-core, genre-blurring novel can be understood except in analogical terms; even a murderer finds himself bewildered to be “someone who DID things. Someone like the people in detective novels.”
From New York Times • Oct. 26, 2018
By contrast “Managers who pay attention to their own analogical thinking will make better strategic decisions and fewer mistakes.”
From Time • Dec. 7, 2015
Clearly, if much of our knowledge is analogical in origin it cannot be certain, and the real causes of events may always escape us.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
