analogy Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun an inference that if things agree in some respects they probably agree in others
  2. noun drawing a comparison in order to show a similarity in some respect
    • the operation of a computer presents and interesting analogy to the working of the brain
    • the models show by analogy how matter is built up
  3. noun the religious belief that between creature and creator no similarity can be found so great but that the dissimilarity is always greater; any analogy between God and humans will always be inadequate
    doctrine of analogy.

WordNet

A*nal"o*gy noun
Etymology
L. analogia, Gr. , fr. : cf. F. analogie. See Analogous.
Wordforms
plural Analogies
Definitions
  1. 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. Followed by between, to, or with; as, there is an analogy between these objects, or one thing has an analogy to or with another. ✍ Analogy is very commonly used to denote similarity or essential resemblance; but its specific meaning is a similarity of relations, and in this consists the difference between the argument from example and that from analogy. In the former, we argue from the mere similarity of two things; in the latter, from the similarity of their relations. Karslake.
  2. (Biol.) A relation or correspondence in function, between organs or parts which are decidedly different.
  3. (Geom.) Proportion; equality of ratios.
  4. (Gram.) Conformity of words to the genius, structure, or general rules of a language; similarity of origin, inflection, or principle of pronunciation, and the like, as opposed to anomaly. Johnson.

Webster 1913