Comparison

4 definitions found

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

  Comparison \Com*par"i*son\ (? or ?), n. [F. comparaison, L.
     comparatio. See 1st {Compare}.]
     1. The act of comparing; an examination of two or more
        objects with the view of discovering the resemblances or
        differences; relative estimate.
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              As sharp legal practitioners, no class of human
              beings can bear comparison with them. --Macaulay.
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              The miracles of our Lord and those of the Old
              Testament afford many interesting points of
              comparison.                           --Trench.
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     2. The state of being compared; a relative estimate; also, a
        state, quality, or relation, admitting of being compared;
        as, to bring a thing into comparison with another; there
        is no comparison between them.
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     3. That to which, or with which, a thing is compared, as
        being equal or like; illustration; similitude.
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              Whereto shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with
              what comparison shall we compare it?  --Mark iv. 30.
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     4. (Gram.) The modification, by inflection or otherwise,
        which the adjective and adverb undergo to denote degrees
        of quality or quantity; as, little, less, least, are
        examples of comparison.
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     5. (Rhet.) A figure by which one person or thing is compared
        to another, or the two are considered with regard to some
        property or quality, which is common to them both; e.g.,
        the lake sparkled like a jewel.
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     6. (Phren.) The faculty of the reflective group which is
        supposed to perceive resemblances and contrasts.
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     {Beyond comparison}, so far superior as to have no likeness,
        or so as to make comparison needless.
  
     {In comparison of}, {In comparison with}, as compared with;
        in proportion to. [Archaic] "So miserably unpeopled in
        comparison of what it once was." --Addison.
  
     {Comparison of hands} (Law), a mode of proving or disproving
        the genuineness of a signature or writing by comparing it
        with another proved or admitted to be genuine, in order to
        ascertain whether both were written by the same person.
        --Bouvier. --Burrill.
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From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Comparison \Com*par"i*son\, v. t.
     To compare. [Obs.] --Wyclif.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  comparison
       n 1: examining resemblances or differences [syn: {comparing}]
       2: relation based on similarities and differences
       3: qualities that are comparable; "no comparison between the
          two books"; "beyond compare" [syn: {compare}, {equivalence},
           {comparability}]

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

  98 Moby Thesaurus words for "comparison":
     accordance, affinity, agent, agreement, alikeness, alliance,
     alternate, alternative, analogy, aping, approach, approximation,
     assimilation, backup, balance, balancing, change, changeling,
     closeness, commensurability, community, comparability, conformity,
     contrast, contrasting, copy, copying, correspondence, counterfeit,
     deputy, double, dummy, equal, equivalent, ersatz, exchange, fake,
     fill-in, ghost, ghostwriter, identity, imitation, juxtaposing,
     juxtaposition, kinship, likeness, likening, locum tenens,
     makeshift, match, metaphor, metonymy, mimicking, nearness,
     next best thing, parallelism, parity, personnel, phony,
     pinch hitter, proxy, relation, relationship, 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, third string, token, understudy,
     utility player, vicar, vice-president, vice-regent, weighing