Analogy

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Analogy \A*nal"o*gy\, n.; pl. {Analogies}. [L. analogia, Gr. ?,
     fr. ?: cf. F. analogie. See {Analogous}.]
     1. A resemblance of relations; an agreement or likeness
        between things in some circumstances or effects, when the
        things are otherwise entirely different. Thus, learning
        enlightens the mind, because it is to the mind what light


        is to the eye, enabling it to discover things before
        hidden.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: Followed by between, to, or with; as, there is an
           analogy between these objects, or one thing has an
           analogy to or with another.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     Note: Analogy is very commonly used to denote similarity or
           essential resemblance; but its specific meaning is a
           similarity of relations, and in this consists the
           difference between the argument from example and that
           from analogy. In the former, we argue from the mere
           similarity of two things; in the latter, from the
           similarity of their relations. --Karslake.
           [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Biol.) A relation or correspondence in function, between
        organs or parts which are decidedly different.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Geom.) Proportion; equality of ratios.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Gram.) Conformity of words to the genius, structure, or
        general rules of a language; similarity of origin,
        inflection, or principle of pronunciation, and the like,
        as opposed to {anomaly}. --Johnson.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  analogy
       n 1: an inference that if things agree in some respects they
            probably agree in others
       2: drawing a comparison in order to show a similarity in some
          respect; "the operation of a computer presents and
          interesting analogy to the working of the brain"; "the
          models show by analogy how matter is built up"
       3: the religious belief that between creature and creator no
          similarity can be found so great but that the
          dissimilarity is always greater; language can point in the
          right direction but any analogy between God and humans
          will always be inadequate [syn: {doctrine of analogy}]
          [ant: {apophatism}, {cataphatism}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  121 Moby Thesaurus words for "analogy":
     accordance, affinity, agent, agreement, alignment, alikeness,
     allegory, alliance, alternate, alternative, ambiguity, aping,
     approach, approximation, assimilation, backup, balancing, change,
     changeling, closeness, coextension, collineation, community,
     comparability, comparative anatomy, comparative degree,
     comparative grammar, comparative judgment, comparative linguistics,
     comparative literature, comparative method, compare, comparing,
     comparison, concurrence, conformity, confrontation, confrontment,
     contrast, contrastiveness, copy, copying, correlation,
     correspondence, counterfeit, deputy, distinction, distinctiveness,
     double, dummy, equal, equidistance, equivalent, equivocation,
     equivoque, ersatz, exchange, fake, fill-in, ghost, ghostwriter,
     identity, imitation, likeness, likening, locum tenens, makeshift,
     matching, metaphor, metonymy, mimicking, nearness, next best thing,
     nondivergence, opposing, opposition, parallelism, parity,
     personnel, phony, pinch hitter, proportion, proxy, relation,
     relief, replacement, representative, resemblance, reserves, ringer,
     sameness, second string, secondary, semblance, sign, similarity,
     simile, similitude, simulation, spares, stand-in, sub, substituent,
     substitute, substitution, succedaneum, superseder, supplanter,
     surrogate, symbol, synecdoche, tergiversation, third string, token,
     trope of comparison, understudy, utility player, vicar,
     vice-president, vice-regent, weighing
  
  

From Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Revised 6th Ed (1856) [bouvier]:

  ANALOGY, construction. The similitude of relations which exist between things
  
  compared.
       2. To reason analogically, is to draw conclusions based on this
  similitude of relations, on the resemblance, or the connexion which is
  perceived between the objects compared. "It is this guide," says Toollier,
  which leads the law lawgiver, like other men, without his observing it. It
  is analogy which induces us, with reason, to suppose that, following the
  example of the Creator of the universe, the lawgiver has established general
  and uniform laws, which it is unnecessary to repeat in all analogous cases."
  Dr. Civ. Fr. liv. 3, t. 1, c. 1. Vide Ang. on Adv. Enjoym. 30, 31; Hale's
  Com. Law, 141.
       3. Analogy has been declared to be an argument or guide in forming
  legal judgments, and is very commonly a ground of such judgments. 7 Barn. &
  Cres. 168; 3 Bing. R. 265; 8 Bing R. 557, 563; 3 Atk. 313; 1 Eden's R. 212;
  1 W. Bl. 151; 6 Ves. jr. 675, 676; 3 Swanst. R. 561; 1 Turn. & R. 103, 338;
  1 R. & M. 352, 475, 477; 4 Burr. R. 1962; 2022, 2068; 4 T. R. 591; 4 Barn. &
  Cr. 855; 7 Dowl. & Ry. 251; Cas. t. Talb. 140; 3 P. Wms. 391; 3 Bro. C. C.
  639, n.