# comparison

Pronunciation: US say "kuhm-PAIR-i-suhn" /kəmˈpɛɹɪsən/; UK say "kuhm-PA-ri-suhn" /kəmˈpaɹɪsən/

## Noun

1. An evaluation of how one or more things are similar to and different from one another.
   - Simple: A close look at how two or more things are alike and how they are different.
   - _Her essay drew a detailed comparison between the two economic systems._
   - _Scientists ran a comparison of the samples to find subtle differences._
2. The act of comparing things, or the state or process of being set against one another.
   - Simple: The act of looking at things to see how they are alike or different.
   - _The two reports invite comparison because they cover the same period._
   - _Under comparison, the rival designs revealed their hidden flaws._
3. When used with a negation, the quality of being similar or equal to something else.
   - Simple: Used in negative phrases to mean being as good as or as similar as something else.
   - _The remake bears no comparison with the original film._
   - _There's simply no comparison between handmade and factory goods._
4. In some languages, the grammatical feature by which adjectives and adverbs are inflected to show the relative degree of a quality.
   - Simple: In grammar, the way adjectives and adverbs change form to show more or less of a quality.
   - _English comparison produces forms such as 'happier' and 'happiest' from 'happy'._
   - _Latin comparison marks degree through suffixes rather than separate words._
5. That with which a thing is compared as being equal or alike; an illustration or similitude.
   - Simple: Something you compare another thing to, used to show what it is like.
   - _He offered the ocean as a comparison for the vastness of space._
   - _The speaker found no fitting comparison for such generosity._
6. A figure of speech that likens one thing to another; a simile.
   - Simple: A way of describing one thing by saying it is like another.
   - _The novelist's comparison of grief to an unending winter stayed with readers._
   - _Her whole speech turned on a single striking comparison._
7. In phrenology, the mental faculty held to perceive resemblances and contrasts among things.
   - Simple: In old brain studies, the mental power thought to notice how things are alike or different.
   - _The phrenologist credited her keen comparison with her talent for analogy._
   - _According to the chart, comparison occupied a region near the center of the forehead._

## Origin

The word comes from Middle English comparisoun, from Old French comparison, which in turn came from Latin comparātiō, from comparātus, the perfect passive participle of comparō.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/comparison (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).