analogy

noun anal·o·gy \ ə-ˈna-lə-jē \

|Updated on: 11 Jun 2018

Tip: Synonym Guide

Examples: analogy in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Digging Into the Most Common Meaning of analogy

Definition of analogy

plural analogies

1 a : a comparison of two otherwise unlike things based on resemblance of a particular aspect

b : resemblance in some particulars between things otherwise unlike : similarity

2 : inference that if two or more things agree with one another in some respects they will probably agree in others

3 : correspondence between the members of pairs or sets of linguistic forms that serves as a basis for the creation of another form

4 : correspondence in function between anatomical parts of different structure and origin — compare homology

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Examples of analogy in a Sentence

He does, though, suffer from the occupational deformation of international relations specialists: an enthusiasm for ransacking the past in search of precedents, analogies, patterns, and cycles that might explain the present and forecast the future. —Tony Judt, New York Book Review, 10 Apr. 2003
People who do this call themselves "white-hat" hackers—good people who show other people their vulnerabilities. Take the following analogy: I've designed a great new lock pick, and I'm going to give this great new gadget away to show everyone that the typical door lock is ineffective against my new pick. —John C. Dvorak, PC Magazine, 4 Apr. 2000
It has often been said that movie stars are the royalty of America. (The better analogy, really, is that the royals are the movie stars of Britain.) —Neal Gabler, Life: The Movie, 1998
Parts of the far-infrared sky look like colonies of spiders gone mad. The fine structure seen there is called cirrus, by analogy with filamentary clouds on Earth. —Virginia Trimble et al., Sky & Telescope, January 1995

Recent Examples of analogy from the Web

Kevin Durant uses a Kanye West analogy to describe the different vibe between this year’s #Warriors team compared to last year’s.

— alysha tsuji, For The Win, "Kevin Durant used Kanye West to explain how this year’s Warriors are different," 7 June 2018
As doctors began dabbling in the drug, however, both analogies crumbled.

— jolene edgar, Allure, "The Kybella Debate: Why Some Plastic Surgeons and Dermatologists Are Reconsidering the Chin-Slimming Injectable," 30 May 2018
That could be an analogy for the strategy of Richard Dulude, a co-founder of Underscore VC in Boston, a firm that doesn’t hold tokens but is instead focused on key infrastructure of the cryptocurrency and smart contract economy.

— jeff john roberts, Fortune, "The Sucker at the Token Table: Who Loses in the ICO Bust," 12 May 2018
By way of analogy, the same analysis would apply to a stereo system being used in a unit — the stereo used at a reasonable volume would not amount to a nuisance, but a stereo on full volume certainly will.

— howard dakoff, chicagotribune.com, "Piano player gets flak from neighbors who say music is a disturbance," 9 May 2018
In The Long Hangover, Shaun Walker steers mercifully clear of bear analogies.

— sophie pinkham, The New Republic, "Why have post-Soviet countries embraced populism and nostalgia?," 3 May 2018
But, like many such beliefs in the U.S., these opinions are often warped by an assumption that the past is a perfect analogy to the present.

— patrick sisson, Curbed, "To buy or to rent: The great homeownership debate," 20 Apr. 2018
But the comment is an awkward analogy, given Trump's long and well-publicized history of marital indiscretions.

— eric bradner, CNN, "Republican Senate candidate compares voting against Trump's agenda to cheating on wife," 4 Apr. 2018
The closest historical analogy of a president doing hands-on meddling with the DOJ was President Nixon.

— sean illing, Vox, "8 legal experts on whether Trump’s demand for an investigation into the FBI is legal," 21 May 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'analogy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Digging Into the Most Common Meaning of analogy

In its most common use, analogy has to do with comparison of things based on those things being alike in some way. For example, one can make or draw an analogy between the seasons of the year and the stages of life. People also reason by way of analogy, asserting, for example, that abandoning a project is like leaving a house partway built. Although an analogy can be summarized quickly, as in these examples, an analogy actually encompasses the comparison or inference itself, and is therefore different from figures of speech, like metaphors and similes, which are forms of expression.

Some tests ask you to identify analogies, finding the second of a pair that has the same relationship as a completed pair. Analogy tests often look like this:

ice : cold :: steel : ____

a. hard b. loud c. fresh d. small

Because the relationship between ice and cold is that coldness is a quality of ice, the word that goes with steel is hard, since hardness is a quality of steel.

The word analogy (which comes from analogous) traces back by way of Latin to a Greek word meaning "proportionate." That word has a root in the Greek word logos, meaning "reason."

Origin and Etymology of analogy

see analogous

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 2

See Words from the same year

Synonym Discussion of analogy

likeness, similarity, resemblance, similitude, analogy mean agreement or correspondence in details. likeness implies a closer correspondence than similarity which often implies that things are merely somewhat alike.