analogy
/əˈnalədʒi
/noun (plural analogies)
1A comparison between one thing and another, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification: an analogy between the workings of nature and those of human societies [mass noun]: he interprets logical functions by analogy with machines...
- Between the taboo of ‘eating the dead’ and that of eating domestic animals, the analogy between relatives and animals is clear.
- There is a limited analogy between the relation of theology to religious discourse and the relation of logic to language.
- The analogy between outlawing gay marriage and interracial marriage won't withstand scrutiny.
1.1A correspondence or partial similarity: the syndrome is called deep dysgraphia because of its analogy to deep dyslexia...
- If there is any likeness at all between the machine and its embodied precursor, the closest analogy to that relationship might be between adults and the babies they once were.
- Incidentally, while this naturally brings up an analogy to the constitutional right to an abortion, the analogy is complex.
- The analogy to Gaiman isn't perfect, of course.
1.2A thing which is comparable to something else in significant respects: works of art were seen as an analogy for works of nature...
- But Germany and Japan make poor analogies with respect to the contemporary Middle East.
- There is also Plato's idea of the state as an analogy for the soul.
- If the virtue of a function is to perform it well, the analogy of ‘rational activity’ makes clear that there is a plurality of virtues.
1.3 [mass noun] Logic A process of arguing from similarity in known respects to similarity in other respects: argument from analogy...
- If they are going to argue from analogy, then human's design things which are less complicated than themselves.
- This is the source of scepticism about other minds: how, given that the argument from analogy does not work, can I claim to be justified in believing that there are any minds other than my own in the universe?
- Attributing mental states to other people seems to depend on a shaky argument from analogy only because we are tempted to suppose that such states are directly accessible only to the person whose states they are.
Synonyms
similarity, parallel, parallelism, correspondence, likeness, resemblance, correlation, relation, kinship, equivalence, similitude, symmetry, homology
1.4 [mass noun] Linguistics A process by which new words and inflections are created on the basis of regularities in the form of existing ones.Processes of analogy have created coinages like petrodollar, psycho-warfare, microwave on such models as petrochemical, psychology, microscope....
- They are created in accordance with a schema - by analogy, as it were, with existing forms.
- Far from being proof of children's linguistic inadequacy, analogy is a demonstration of their mastery of the core rules of English morphology.
1.5 [mass noun] Biology The resemblance of function between organs that have a different evolutionary origin.Finally, I think that Wright, who has written a good deal about evolution, is missing a basic evolutionary analogy....
- In drawing this analogy Darwin goes beyond denying the simultaneous creation of all species and calls into question the idea of classification as a whole.
- Indeed, if Darwin's analogy proves anything, it shows the need for intelligent intervention to produce new life forms.
Derivatives
analogic
/ adjective ...- These acquisition systems are mutually facilitative: ‘The more powerful the context-sensitive decoding rules (or analogic capabilities), the more entries the learner can acquire.’
- What it means is that pronouns, like all other words, are changeable, via regular sound changes, analogic restructuring, and borrowing.
- In this world of correspondences and analogies, the suffering of Christ demands a similar, consciously analogic, sacrifice.
analogical
/ adjective ...- What counts in analogical comparison is, within limits, inherently contestable.
- As a universal spam blocking tool Spam Blocker possesses indefeasible advantages compared to analogical applications.
- Is there just one concept that corresponds to an analogical term, or is there a sequence of concepts?
analogically
- In order to determine the moral status of the biological artifact produced by altered nuclear transfer, we need to find an analogically similar entity with a matching ‘fact pattern’.
- Content can be matched to therapy issues analogically as well as concretely.
- His books The Changing Workplace and The New Office speak of embracing new digital technologies and potentially rethinking the office analogically as hives, dens, cells, and clubs.
Origin
Late Middle English (in the sense 'appropriateness, correspondence'): from French analogie, Latin analogia 'proportion', from Greek, from analogos 'proportionate'.