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What is the difference between comparable and similar?

comparable | similar |

Similar is a synonym of comparable.



In mathematics terms the difference between comparable and similar

is that comparable is constituting a pair in a particular partial order while similar is of geometrical figures including triangles, squares, ellipses, arcs and more complex figures, having the same shape but possibly different size, rotational orientation, and position; in particular, having corresponding angles equal and corresponding line segments proportional; such that one can be had from the other using a sequence of operations of rotation, translation and scaling.

As adjectives the difference between comparable and similar

is that comparable is able to be compared (to) while similar is having traits or characteristics in common; alike, comparable.

As nouns the difference between comparable and similar

is that comparable is something suitable for comparison while similar is that which is similar to, or resembles, something else, as in quality, form, etc.

comparable

English

Adjective

(en-adj)
  • Able to be compared (to).
  • Similar (to); like.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=July-August, author= Philip J. Bushnell
  • , magazine=(American Scientist), title= Solvents, Ethanol, Car Crashes & Tolerance , passage=Furthermore, this increase in risk is comparable to the risk of death from leukemia after long-term exposure to benzene, another solvent, which has the well-known property of causing this type of cancer.}}
  • (mathematics) Constituting a pair in a particular partial order.
  • (grammar) Said of an adjective that has a comparative and superlative form.
  • Noun

    (en noun)
  • Something suitable for comparison.
  • * {{quote-news, 2009, January 2, Fred A. Bernstein, Catskill Home Prices: How Low Will They Go?, New York Times citation
  • , passage=And the appraiser said he couldn't come up with comparables , because there hadn't been any sales nearby in several months. }} ----

    similar

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Having traits or characteristics in common; alike, comparable.
  • *
  • *:So this was my future home, I thought! Certainly it made a brave picture. I had seen similar ones fired-in on many a Heidelberg stein. Backed by towering hills,a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Charles T. Ambrose
  • , title= Alzheimer’s Disease , volume=101, issue=3, page=200, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Similar studies of rats have employed four different intracranial resorbable, slow sustained release systems—surgical foam, a thermal gel depot, a microcapsule or biodegradable polymer beads.}}
  • (mathematics) Of geometrical figures including triangles, squares, ellipses, arcs and more complex figures, having the same shape but possibly different size, rotational orientation, and position; in particular, having corresponding angles equal and corresponding line segments proportional; such that one can be had from the other using a sequence of operations of rotation, translation and scaling.
  • Synonyms

    * (with common characteristics) akin, alike, comparable, identical, same, twin

    Antonyms

    * (alike) different, unlike

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • That which is similar to, or resembles, something else, as in quality, form, etc.
  • (homeopathy) A material that produces an effect that resembles the symptoms of a particular disease