simile

English

Etymology

First attested 1393, from Latin simile ("comparison, likeness", "parallel"), originally from simile the neuter form of similis ("like, similar, resembling"). Confer the English similar.

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈsɪməli/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

simile (plural similes or similia)

1. A figure of speech in which one thing is compared to another, in the case of English generally using like or as.

   A simile is like a metaphor.

   • 1925, Fruit of the Flower, by Countee Cullen

     My father is a quiet man -- With sober, steady ways; -- For simile, a folded fan; -- His nights are like his days.

Hypernyms

• figure of speech

Related terms

terms related to simile (noun)

dissimile similar

similarity simulate

Translations

figure of speech in which one thing is compared to another

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 直喻 (cmn) (zhíyù), 明喻 (cmn) (míngyù), 譬喻 (cmn) (pìyù), 比喻 (cmn) (bǐyù)

• Czech: přirovnání (cs) n
• Danish: sammenligning (da) c, lignelse (da) c
• Dutch: vergelijking (nl) f
• Finnish: vertaus
• French: comparaison (fr) f
• German: Vergleich (de) m
• Greek: παρομοίωση (el) (paromoíosi) f
• Hungarian: hasonlat (hu)

• Icelandic: líking (is) f, samlíking (is) f
• Italian: similitudine (it) f
• Japanese: 直喩 (ja) (ちょくゆ, chokuyu), 比喩 (ja) (ひゆ, hiyu), シミレ (ja) (shimire)
• Korean: 직유 (ko) (jigyu) (直喻 (ko))
• Polish: porównanie (pl) n
• Russian: сравнение (ru) (sravnénije) n
• Spanish: símil (es) m
• Swahili: kibadala (sw)
• Swedish: liknelse (sv) c

See also

• Simile on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• metaphor
• Category:English similes
• Appendix:English similes - an appendix containing many similes

Anagrams

• smilie

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Esperanto

Adverb

simile

1. similarly

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Italian

Etymology

From Latin similis.

Adjective

simile m and f (m and f plural simili)

1. similar
   • Non è molto simile. It is not very similar.

Synonyms

• similare

Antonyms

• diverso, differente, dissimile

Related terms

• similitudine
• similmente
• simil-

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Latin

Adjective

simile

1. nominative neuter singular of similis
2. accusative neuter singular of similis
3. vocative neuter singular of similis