comparison

American  

[kuhm-par-uh-suhn] / kəmˈpær ə sən /

noun

1. the act of comparing.

2. the state of being compared.

3. a likening; illustration by similitude; comparative estimate or statement.

4. Rhetoric. the considering of two things with regard to some characteristic that is common to both, as the likening of a hero to a lion in courage.

5. capability of being compared or likened.

   Synonyms:

   similarity, resemblance, likeness

6. Grammar.

   1. the function of an adverb or adjective that is used to indicate degrees of superiority or inferiority in quality, quantity, or intensity.

   2. the patterns of formation involved therein.

   3. the degrees of a particular word, displayed in a fixed order, as mild, milder, mildest, less mild, least mild.

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comparison British  

/ kəmˈpærɪsən /

noun

1. the act or process of comparing

2. the state of being compared

3. comparable quality or qualities; likeness

   there was no comparison between them

4. a rhetorical device involving comparison, such as a simile

5. Also called: degrees of comparison.  grammar the listing of the positive, comparative, and superlative forms of an adjective or adverb

6. to be sufficiently similar in class or range to be compared with (something else), esp favourably

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Other Word Forms

• intercomparison noun
• precomparison noun
• recomparison noun

Etymology

Origin of comparison

First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English comparesoun, from Old French comparaison, from Latin comparātiōn-, stem of comparātiō, from comparāt(us) “placed together” (past participle of comparāre “to place together, match”; compare ) + -iō -ion

Example Sentences

In comparison, the first runs of popular books in the 1850s, The Scarlet Letter or Moby-Dick for example, were less than 3,000 copies.

From Literature

Those are worrying comparisons, and markets are indicating notable stresses as a result.

From Barron's

We are raising them for a world shaped by artificial intelligence, public visibility and constant comparison.

From The Wall Street Journal

First, it’s now clear that, despite these net inflows, the U.S. stock market has lagged behind and its underperformance is starting to show up in year-over-year comparisons.

From MarketWatch

They also point out that many studies lacked direct head to head comparisons, participants differed widely in symptom severity, and some trials allowed additional treatments alongside exercise.

From Science Daily

Related Words

• analogy
• connection
• contrast
• correlation
• example
• identification
• juxtaposition
• observation
• ratio
• relation
• resemblance
• similarity
• testing