Resembles

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To exhibit traits, characteristics, or appearance that are akin to another entity or individual
2. To manifest qualities, looks, or features that align closely with a different person or object
3. Shows features or qualities that are similar to those of another person or thing

Etymology: "Resembles" is the third-person singular form of "resemble", so the story belongs to the verb itself. The verb came into Middle English from Anglo-Norman "resembler" or "ressembler", and its root is the Old French verb "sembler", meaning "to seem". Prefixing "re-" to that gave a sense of seeming alike again, which is the notion of looking like something already known. The "re-" is the same prefix as in "return" or "repeat", but here it carries little of its usual force of doing something again. Its contribution is mainly to strengthen the idea of making a likeness, so the verb grew from "seem" into "look like another." The "sembl-" element also turns up in English "semblance" and "assemble" in related roles, though those came through different routes.

Synonyms: looks like, is similar to

Antonyms: differs from, is unlike