Analogise

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To make a comparison that highlights the similarities between different objects or ideas to foster better comprehension
2. To illustrate how two distinct entities resemble each other, thereby improving clarity and understanding of their relationships
3. To draw parallels between different concepts or items in order to enhance understanding and promote insight into their connections

Etymology: "Analogise" is the British spelling of "analogize," and it is a verb built in English from the noun "analogy" plus the suffix "-ize," which turns a noun into a verb meaning to make, treat, or reason in a certain way. The noun "analogy" is itself older and more learned: it came into English from Latin "analogia," which was borrowed from Greek "analogia," meaning proportion or correspondence, from "ana" (according to) and "logos" (ratio, word, reasoning). So to analogise is, at root, to reason by proportion, setting one thing alongside another and drawing out the matching relationship. The suffix does much of the work here. Its ancestor is the Greek "-izein," which the Romans adapted as "-izare" and which passed through Old French into Middle English as "-isen." English later settled on "-ize" for verbs like this, so "analogise" takes a familiar Greek-derived ending attached to a Greek-derived noun. Because the verb is a straightforward English formation, its meaning stays close to the noun: to explain one thing by comparing it with another that works in a similar way.

Synonyms: compare, correlate, equate, relate, liken

Antonyms: dissimilar, differ, contrast, disassociate, disconnect