analogy noun - Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com

Definition of analogy noun from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

analogy

noun
 
/əˈnælədʒi/
 
/əˈnælədʒi/
(plural analogies)
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  1. [countable] a comparison of one thing with another thing that has similar features; a feature that is similar
    • analogy (between A and B) The teacher drew an analogy between the human heart and a pump.
    • analogy (with something) There are no analogies with any previous legal cases.
    Extra Examples
    • She suggested an analogy between the human heart and a pump.
    • The Wild West analogy does not fit here.
    • There is an analogy here with the way an engine works.
    • The computer is a useful analogy for the brain.
    Topics Languagec1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • appropriate
    • apt
    • good
    verb + analogy
    • draw
    • make
    • suggest
    analogy + verb
    • fit
    • hold
    preposition
    • by analogy
    • by analogy to
    • by analogy with
    phrases
    • argument by analogy
    • argument from analogy
    See full entry
  2. [uncountable] the process of comparing one thing with another thing that has similar features in order to explain it
    • learning by analogy
    • We can understand this theory by analogy with human beings.
    Topics Languagec1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective
    • appropriate
    • apt
    • good
    verb + analogy
    • draw
    • make
    • suggest
    analogy + verb
    • fit
    • hold
    preposition
    • by analogy
    • by analogy to
    • by analogy with
    phrases
    • argument by analogy
    • argument from analogy
    See full entry
  3. Word Originlate Middle English (in the sense ‘appropriateness, correspondence’): from French analogie, Latin analogia ‘proportion’, from Greek, from analogos ‘proportionate’.
See analogy in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee analogy in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
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noun
 
 
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