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analogous

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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From Latin analogus, from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓νᾰ́λογος (ănắlogos);[1][2] Its English equivalent is analogue +‎ -ous. The application to similar features of organisms is nearly as old as the general sense. Recognizably modern uses of the second sense, distinguishing analogous from homologous, appear in the mid-19th century.[3]

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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analogous (comparative more analogous, superlative most analogous)

  1. Having analogy, the status of an analogue; corresponding to something else; bearing some resemblance or similar proportion (often followed by "to".)
    Synonyms: correspondent, like, similar, comparable, parallel
    • 1828, Thomas De Quincey, Elements of Rhetoric (review)
      Analogous tendencies in arts and in manners.
    • 1872, John Henry Newman, Historical Sketches:
      Decay of public spirit, which may be considered analogous to natural death.
    • 1974, George M. Foster, Robert V. Kemper, “Introduction: A Perspective on Anthropological Fieldwork in Cities”, in Anthropologists in Cities‎[1], Little, Brown and Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 8:
      Accustomed as we are to working in small, “bounded” rural communities, anthropologists are often disconcerted by the amorphous and heterogeneous populations of large cities. How are the boundaries of the urban sample to be determined, and how should the fieldworker proceed with his study? As Anthony Leeds has pointed out (1968:31), we often try to solve this problem by concentrating on slums, squatter settlements, or ethnic minorities, on the assumption that they are analogous to the small rural villages we know, and that they can be investigated in similar fashion. Watson, for example, found that even in London he carried the image of the rural village with him from San Tin, the village in the Hong Kong New Territories he had studied.
    • 2013 September 20, Martina Hyde, “Is the pope Catholic?”, in The Guardian‎[2]:
      At the very least, it would seem to be tinkering with the formula of the biggest spiritual brand in the world, analogous to Coca-Cola changing its famous recipe in 1985.
  2. (biology) Functionally similar, but arising through convergent evolution rather than being homologous.

Derived terms

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Translations

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References

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  1. ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2026), “analogous”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
  2. ^ “analogous”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
  3. ^ James A. H. Murray et al., editors (1884–1928), “Analogous”, in A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (Oxford English Dictionary), volume I (A–B), London: Clarendon Press, →OCLC, page 304, column 1.

Further reading

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