resemble

[ri-zem-buh l]

See more synonyms for resemble on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), re·sem·bled, re·sem·bling.

to be like or similar to.
Archaic. to liken or compare.

Origin of resemble

1300–50; Middle English resemblen < Middle French resembler, Old French, equivalent to re- re- + sembler to seem, be like < Latin similāre, derivative of similis like; see similar

Related formsre·sem·bling·ly, adverbpre·re·sem·ble, verb, pre·re·sem·bled, pre·re·sem·bling.un·re·sem·bling, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for resemble

parallel, feature, simulate, mirror, relate, approximate, echo, favor, duplicate, double, follow, coincide, match

Examples from the Web for resemble

Contemporary Examples of resemble

A tense commute to work in Houston will start to resemble a tense commute in Boston or New York City.
Will Texas Stay Texan?
David Fontana
December 29, 2014
What it did not resemble was any other bookstore in the nation.
The Bookstore That Bewitched Mick Jagger, John Lennon, and Greta Garbo
Felice Picano
December 16, 2014
And this is where the plague outbreak does resemble Ebola—as a grim reminder of the consequences of our global interconnectedness.
Bubonic Plague Is Back (but It Never Really Left)
Kent Sepkowitz
November 27, 2014
After a few hundred years, these voices start to resemble doomsday cultists—the end is often heralded but never delivered.
Why Are Millennials Unfriending Organized Religion?
Vlad Chituc
November 9, 2014
The HL Tauri system we see today may not resemble the final form it takes after a few more million years.
The Most Stunning View Ever of Planets Being Born
Matthew R. Francis
November 9, 2014

Historical Examples of resemble

I answered that there was every reason why I should resemble her.
My Double Life
Sarah Bernhardt
If we are like you in the rest, we will resemble you in that.
Tales And Novels, Volume 9 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
It is our duty to resemble him as much as we can; that is to say, as much as an ape can resemble a man.
Initiation into Philosophy
Emile Faguet
I earnestly hope it may not resemble any type of death to which we are liable.
The Room in the Dragon Volant
J. Sheridan LeFanu
They all had a human form and did not resemble their mother.
The Chinese Fairy Book
Various

British Dictionary definitions for resemble

resemble

verb

(tr) to possess some similarity to; be like

Derived Formsresembler, noun

Word Origin for resemble

C14: from Old French resembler, from re- + sembler to look like, from Latin similis like

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 resemble

mid-14c., from Old French resembler "belike" (12c., Modern French ressemble), from re-, intensive prefix, + sembler "to appear, to seem, be like," from Latin simulare "to copy" (see similar (adj.)). Related: Resembled; resembling.