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Benchmark vs Compare - What's the difference?

benchmark | compare |

In transitive terms the difference between benchmark and compare

is that benchmark is to measure the performance of (an item) relative to another similar item in an impartial scientific manner while compare is to declare two things to be similar in some respect ["to compare X to Y"].

benchmark

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A standard by which something is evaluated or measured.
  • * 2013 , Martina Hyde, Is the pope Catholic?'' (in ''The Guardian , 20 September 2013)[http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/sep/20/is-pope-catholic-atheists-gay-people-abortion]
    • Is the pope Catholic? Forgive the posing of a question that is usually rhetorical, the absolute benchmark of certainty, and traditionally regarded as even more settled than the one pertaining to the lavatorial arrangements of bears.
  • A surveyor's mark made on some stationary object and shown on a map; used as a reference point.
  • (computing) A computer program that is executed to assess the performance of the runtime environment.

    • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To measure the performance of (an item) relative to another similar item in an impartial scientific manner.

    • References

    compare

    English

    Verb

    (compar)
  • (label) To assess the similarities and differences between two or more things ["to compare X with Y"]. Having made the comparison of X with' Y, one might have found it similar '''to''' Y or different ' from Y.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers)
    • , chapter=6, title= A Cuckoo in the Nest , passage=Sophia broke down here. Even at this moment she was subconsciously comparing her rendering of the part of the forlorn bride with Miss Marie Lohr's.}}
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Katie L. Burke
    • , title= In the News , volume=101, issue=3, page=193, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola. A recent study explored the ecological variables that may contribute to bats’ propensity to harbor such zoonotic diseases by comparing them with another order of common reservoir hosts: rodents.}}
  • (label) To declare two things to be similar in some respect ["to compare X to Y"].
  • * (Francis Bacon) (1561-1626)
    • Solon compared the people unto the sea, and orators and counsellors to the winds; for that the sea would be calm and quiet if the winds did not trouble it.
  • To form the three degrees of comparison of (an adjective).
  • (label) To be similar (often used in the negative ).
  • * (William Shakespeare) (1564-1616)
    • Shall pack horsescompare with Caesar's?
  • (label) To get; to obtain.
  • * (Edmund Spenser) (c.1552–1599)
    • To fill his bags, and richesse to compare .

    Related terms

    * comparable * comparative * comparison * cf

    See also

    * contrast

    Noun

    (-)
  • comparison
  • * Milton
    • His mighty champion, strong beyond compare .
  • * Waller
    • Their small galleys may not hold compare with our tall ships.
  • illustration by comparison; simile
  • * Shakespeare
    • Rhymes full of protest, of oath, and big compare .
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