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What is the difference between compare and contrast?

compare | contrast |

In transitive terms the difference between compare and contrast

is that compare is to declare two things to be similar in some respect ["to compare X to Y"] while contrast is to set in opposition in order to show the difference or differences between.

In intransitive terms the difference between compare and contrast

is that compare is to be similar (often used in the negative) while contrast is to form a contrast.

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 .

    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 .
    1000 English basic words ----

    contrast

    English

    Noun

  • (label) A difference in lightness, brightness and/or hue between two colours that makes them more or less distinguishable.
  • #(label) The degree of this difference.
  • #:
  • #(label) A control on a television, etc, that adjusts the amount of contrast in the images being displayed.
  • (label) A difference between two objects, people or concepts.
  • :
  • *
  • *:The colonel and his sponsor made a queer contrast : Greystone [the sponsor] long and stringy, with a face that seemed as if a cold wind was eternally playing on it.
  • Antithesis.
  • Verb

    (en verb)
  • To set in opposition in order to show the difference or differences between.
  • To form a contrast.
  • Foreground and background strongly contrast .
  • * Lyell
  • The joints which divide the sandstone contrast finely with the divisional planes which separate the basalt into pillars.

    Derived terms

    * contrasting

    See also

    * compare English heteronyms