Analogous Meaning
/əˈnæl.ə.ɡəs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
adjHaving analogy, the status of an analogue; corresponding to something else; bearing some resemblance or similar proportion (often followed by "to".)
adjFunctionally similar, but arising through convergent evolution rather than being homologous.
Sentence Examples
Your situation is analogous to mine.
The human heart is analogous to a pump.
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms:
Antonyms:
None
CEFR Practice Quiz
The wing of a bird is ____ to the arm of a human in terms of skeletal structure.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The two situations are not strictly ____, but they do share some traits.
Word Origin & History
From Latin analogus, from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓νᾰ́λογος (ănắlogos); 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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Decay of public spirit, which may be considered analogous to natural death."
— 1872, John Henry Newman, Historical Sketches:
"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."
— 1974, George M. Foster, Robert V. Kemper, “Introduction: A Perspective on Anthropological Fieldwork in Cities”, in Anthropologists in Cities, Little, Brown and Company, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 8:
"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."
— 2013 September 20, Martina Hyde, “Is the pope Catholic?”, in The Guardian:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The wing of a bird is ____ to the arm of a human in terms of skeletal structure.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The two situations are not strictly ____, but they do share some traits.