a|nal|o|gy

a|nal|o|gy «uh NAL uh jee», noun, plural -gies.

1. a likeness in some ways between things that are otherwise unlike; similarity: »

There is an analogy between the human heart and a pump.

SYNONYM(S): resemblance, correspondence, equivalence.

2. comparison of such things: »

Historical analogies, as between Napoleon and Hitler, ought not to be carried too far.

3. Biology. correspondence of organs or other parts in function but not in structure and origin (distinguished from homology).

4. Logic. the inference that things alike in certain respects will be alike in others: »

a prediction based on the analogy of history. Deductions based on analogy are frequently open to doubt. Analogy…proceeds on the basis of similarity between two situations. If the similarity is close enough, one may conjecture that a conclusion which holds in one situation should hold in the other (Scientific American).

5. Mathematics. proportion; agreement of ratios.

6. Linguistics. a) = analogical change: (Cf. ↑analogical change) »

The similarity between words like “man” and “pan” sometimes causes children to make the analogy “mans” for “men.”

b) the creation of a new word based on the pattern of an old one, as astronaut on the model of Argonaut.

╂[< Latin analogia < Greek analogíā proportion, relation < análogos analogous]

Usage One says analogy between things, and that one thing has analogy to or with another.