simile

sim·i·le

S0414900 (sĭm′ə-lē)n. A figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared, often in a phrase introduced by like or as, as in "How like the winter hath my absence been" or "So are you to my thoughts as food to life" (Shakespeare).

[Middle English, from Latin, likeness, comparison, from neuter of similis, like; see similar.]

simile

(ˈsɪmɪlɪ) n (Linguistics) a figure of speech that expresses the resemblance of one thing to another of a different category, usually introduced by as or like. Compare metaphor[C14: from Latin simile something similar, from similis like]

sim•i•le

(ˈsɪm ə li)

n. a figure of speech in which two distinct things are compared by using “like” or “as,” as in “She is like a rose.” Compare metaphor. [1350–1400; < Latin: image, likeness, comparison, n. use of neuter of similis similar]

simile

1. A comparison of one person or thing with another by saying that the first is like the second, as in “She sang like an angel.”2. Likening one thing to another.

Thesaurus

Noun

simile - a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with `like' or `as')figure of speech, trope, image, figure - language used in a figurative or nonliteral sense

Translations

明喻

simile

(ˈsiməli) noun a form of expression using `like' or `as', in which one thing is compared to another which it only resembles in one or a small number of ways. `Her hair was like silk' is a simile.明喻

simile

(sĭm`əlē) [Lat.,=likeness], in rhetoric, a figure of speech in which an object is explicitly compared to another object. Robert Burns's poem "A Red Red Rose" contains two straightforward similes:

My love is like a red, red rose
That's newly sprung in June:
My love is like the melody
That's sweetly played in tune.

The epic, or Homeric, simile is an elaborate, formal, and sustained simile derived from those of Homer.

Simile

a category in stylistics and poetics; a figure of speech comparing two things that share a common feature. The aim of the simile is to reveal new and important attributes in the thing being compared. For example, the simile “The poet’s madness eternal/Is like a fresh spring amid the ruins” (V. Solov’ev) indirectly evokes an image of the unfailing “pulse” and “boundless” vital force of the poetic word against a background of “finite” empirical reality.

A simile is comprised of the thing being compared (the object of the simile), the thing with which it is juxtaposed (the means), and their common feature (the basis of the simile). The simile enhances a line’s literary effect by revealing the basic trait of the object of the simile and other attributes of the object as well.

The simile is widely used in folklore and poetry. It may be figurative, for example, “And their curls as white as morning snow on the glorious summit of a burial mound” (A. S. Pushkin), or emotive, for example, “Beautiful as an angel from heaven” (M. Iu. Lermonotov); it may also combine both functions. The conjunctions “as,” “like,” “as if,” and “similar to” generally join the parts of the simile.

V. V. KURILOV

Acronym

Definition

SIMILE➣Semantic Interoperability of Metadata and Information in Unlike Environments

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Words related to simile

noun a figure of speech that expresses a resemblance between things of different kinds (usually formed with 'like' or 'as')

Related Words