analogy

analogy — noun

1. a way of describing something by pointing out how it is like another, more famil

1.nounC1
Definition

a way of describing something by pointing out how it is like another, more familiar thing, so that listeners or readers can understand it more easily.

Example

Professor Lin drew an analogy between the human brain and a busy city to explain how thoughts travel.

draw an analogy between X and Y

The coach used a cooking analogy to show why every player matters in the team.

noun + analogy: cooking/sports/musical analogy

Common collocations
  • draw an analogy
  • make an analogy
  • useful analogy
  • apt analogy
  • false analogy
  • by analogy with
Synonyms
  • comparison

    broader and more neutral; an analogy is a comparison made specifically to explain or argue a point

  • parallel

    highlights matching features between two situations; less focused on teaching or explaining

  • metaphor

    states one thing IS another for vivid effect; an analogy spells out the similarity step by step

  • simile

    a short 'like/as' comparison; an analogy is usually longer and reasons through the resemblance

Antonyms
  • contrast

    points out differences rather than likeness

  • distinction

    marks how two things are unlike each other

Grammar Patterns

an analogy between X and Y

an analogy with X

draw/make an analogy

Usage Note

Often introduces an explanation: a speaker draws an analogy first and then unpacks the comparison. The phrase 'by analogy with' signals that the speaker is borrowing the logic of one situation to make sense of another.

Common Mistakes

He made an analogy of a brain and a city.
He made an analogy between a brain and a city.
analogy takes 'between X and Y', not 'of X and Y'.
She drew the analogy with comparing apples and oranges.
She drew an analogy with comparing apples and oranges.
the indefinite article 'an' is standard when introducing a new comparison.

Word family

  • analogous
    adjectiveC2
  • analogously
    adverbC2
  • analogue
    nounC2
  • analogical
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All five words involve setting two things side by side, but they differ in purpose and form. A comparison is the most general term — any act of noting how things are alike or different. An analogy is a comparison made to explain or argue: the speaker shows that two things share key features so the listener can understand the harder one through the easier one. A metaphor states the link directly and briefly, calling one thing another ('time is money'), while a simile uses 'like' or 'as' for a quick image ('quiet as a mouse'). A parallel highlights matching patterns, often between events or histories, without necessarily teaching anything. So a teacher draws an analogy, a poet reaches for a metaphor or simile, and a historian notes a parallel.

analogy ↗comparison ↗metaphor ↗simileparallel

Common collocations

Nouns

  • sports analogy
  • cooking analogy
  • musical analogy
  • computer analogy

Adverbs

Phrases

  • draw an analogy
  • make an analogy
  • by analogy with
  • useful analogy
  • apt analogy
  • false analogy
  • extend the analogy
  • push the analogy too far

Prepositions

Etymology

GreekLatinFrenchEnglish

Analogy reaches modern English through Latin 'analogia' from Greek 'ana-' (meaning 'according to') and 'logos' (meaning 'ratio' or 'reasoning'). For Greek mathematicians it first named a proportion — the idea that A is to B as C is to D. From there it widened into any reasoned comparison that lines up matching features, which is the everyday sense English speakers use today.