DIMENSIONS: MEASURE / Proportion
R E F E R E N C E S
Compare -v.t. 1. to examine [two or more things, ideas, people, etc.] for the purpose of noting similarities and differences: to compare two pieces of cloth. 2. to consider or describe as similar; liken. 3. Gram. to form or display the degrees of comparison of [an adjective or adverb]. -v.i. 4. to bear comparision; be held equal: Dekker's plays cannot compare with Shakespeare's. 5. to differ in quality or accomplishment as specified: his work compares poorly with yours. 6. compare notes. See note [def. 16]. -7. comparison: Her beauty is beyond compare. [late ME < L compar(ãre) (to) match together = compãr a perfect match [see COM-, PAR] + -ãre inf. ending; r. ME comper < OF comperer].
-Syn. 1, 2. Compare, Contrast agree in placing together two or more things and examining them to discover charcteristics, qualities, etc. To compare means to examine in order to discover like or unlike characteristics. We compare things of the same class with each other; things of unlike classes to each other; to compare one story with another, a man to a mountain. To contrast is to examine with an eye to differences, or to place together so that the differences are striking. We contrast one thing with another: to contrast living conditions in peace and in war.
Comparative. adj. 1. of or pertaining to comparison. 2. proceeding by, founded on, or using comparision as a method of study; compartive anatomy; comparative literature. 3. estimated by comparison; not positive or absolute; relative: a comparative newcomer in politics. 4. Gram. being, noting, or pertaining to the intermediate degree of the comparison of adjectives and adverbs, as surer and more beautiful, the comparative forms of sure and beautiful and adverbs as faster and more carefully, the comparative forms of fast and carefully. Cf. positive [def. 18], superlative [def. 3]. -n. Gram. 5. the compartive degree. 6. a form in the comparative.
[Urdang, Laurence, ed. Random House Dictionary of The English Language. New York: Random House, 1968.]
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