Analogically

Part of speech: adverb

Pronunciation: /ˌænəˈlɒd͡ʒɪkli/

Definitions

1. In a manner that draws comparisons between things sharing similar structural or functional relationships, allowing inferences about one based on known properties of another
2. In a way that suggests a similarity between different subjects by highlighting their comparable structures or functions, thus permitting conclusions to be drawn about one from the other’s characteristics
3. In a manner that emphasizes the connections between disparate elements by illustrating their analogous properties, enabling one to make deductions from the known to the unknown

Etymology: "Analogically" is simply the adverb of "analogic," so its history runs through two suffixes stacked on a Greek root. The root is Greek "analogia," meaning proportion or correspondence, built from "ana" (according to, throughout) and "logos" (ratio, reasoning). "Analogic" came into English as the adjective form of this idea, and "-ally" was then added to turn it into an adverb meaning "in an analogical manner." The "-ally" ending is itself a layered piece of language. It descends from the Latin "-alis," which Old French adopted as "-al" and passed to Middle English. The Germanic "-lich" ending, meaning something like "having the form of," arrived in English as "-lice" in Old English and became "-ly," which was later fused with "-al" to produce "-ally." So the adverb ending combines a Latin adjective suffix with an Old English one, a fusion typical of English words of this shape.

Synonyms: comparatively, similarly