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  1. analogy

    noun

    1. A similarity in some respects between things that are otherwise dissimilar.
      "sees an analogy between viral infection and the spread of ideas."
    2. A comparison based on such similarity.
      "made an analogy between love and a fever."
    3. Correspondence in function or position between organs of dissimilar evolutionary origin or structure.

    noun

    1. A similarity in some respects between things that are otherwise dissimilar.
      "sees an analogy between viral infection and the spread of ideas."
    2. A comparison based on such similarity.
      "made an analogy between love and a fever."
    3. Correspondence in function or position between organs of dissimilar evolutionary origin or structure.
    4. A form of reasoning based on the assumption that if two things are known to be alike in some respects, then they are probably alike in other respects.
    5. The process by which words or morphemes are re-formed or created on the model of existing grammatical patterns in a language, often leading to greater regularity in paradigms, as evidenced by helped replacing holp and holpen as the past tense and past participle of help on the model of verbs such as yelp, yelped, yelped.
    6. A resemblance of relations; an agreement or likeness between things in some circumstances or effects, when the things are otherwise entirely different. Thus, learning enlightens the mind, because it is to the mind what light is to the eye, enabling it to discover things before hidden.
    7. A relation or correspondence in function, between organs or parts which are decidedly different.
    8. Proportion; equality of ratios.
      Similar: proportion
    The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition • More at Wordnik
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  2. litcharts.com

    Analogy has different meanings in the context of different academic fields. For instance, someone studying logic would say that analogy is "an inference that, if two things are similar in some ways, they must also be alike in others." A cognitive scientist or a lawyer would have a different definition altogether.
  3. grammarly.com

    Analogy is a literary device that compares seemingly unrelated things to one another. For example, a common analogy used in middle school biology is "Mitochondria are the battery of the cell." When a biology teacher calls mitochondria a battery, they are not giving a figurative description of microscopic Duracells scattered throughout the human body.
  4. literarydevices.com

    Analogy is a comparison between two things that helps to describe or explain one thing by showing its similarities or differences with another. Learn about the different types of analogy, such as metaphor, simile, allegory, and parable, and see how they are used in literature and everyday speech.
  5. becomeawritertoday.com

    Finding a needle in a haystack is a nearly impossible task. This catchphrase or analogy example is often applied to tasks that seem out of reach. For instance, one common analogy says: "Finding a good man is as easy as finding a needle in a haystack." This analogy indicates it is nearly impossible to find a "good man."
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    Analogy

    Analogy is a comparison or correspondence between two things because of a third element that they are considered to share. In logic, it is an inference or an argument from one particular to another particular, as opposed to deduction, induction, and abduction. It is also used of where at least one of the premises, or the conclusion, is general rather than particular in nature. It has the general form A is to B as C is to D. In a broader sense, analogical reasoning is a cognitive process of transferring some information or meaning of a particular subject onto another; and also the linguistic expression corresponding to such a process. The term analogy can also refer to the relation between the source and the target themselves, which is often a similarity, as in the biological notion of analogy. Analogy plays a significant role in human thought processes. It has been argued that analogy lies at "the core of cognition". Wikipedia

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