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Reference vs Comparison - What's the difference?

reference | comparison |

As a noun comparison is

the act of comparing or the state or process of being compared.

reference

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • A relationship or relation ((to) something).
  • *, III.1.3:
  • all these are far more eminent and great, when they shall proceed from a sanctified spirit, that hath a true touch of religion and a reference to God.
  • A measurement one can compare to.
  • Information about a person, provided by someone (a referee) with whom they are well acquainted
  • A reference work.
  • (semantics) A relation between objects in which one object designates, or acts as a means by which to connect to or link to, another object.
  • (academic writing) A short written identification of a previously published work which is used as a source for a text.
  • (academic writing) A previously published written work thus indicated; a source.
  • (programming) An object containing information which refers to data stored elsewhere, as opposed to containing the data itself.
  • (programming, character entity) A special sequence used to represent complex characters in a web page such as ™ or €.
  • (obsolete) appeal
  • * Shakespeare
  • Make your full reference .

    Derived terms

    * * * * * * * *

    See also

    * sense

    Verb

    (referenc)
  • to refer to, to make reference to, to cite
  • Reference the dictionary for word meanings.
  • to mention
  • Usage notes

    * Some authorities object to the use of reference as a verb, preferring "refer to" or "cite".

    comparison

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • The act of comparing or the state or process of being compared.
  • :
  • *{{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Old soldiers? , passage=Whether modern, industrial man is less or more warlike than his hunter-gatherer ancestors is impossible to determine. The machine gun is so much more lethal than the bow and arrow that comparisons are meaningless.}}
  • An evaluation of the similarities and differences of one or more things relative to some other or each-other.
  • :
  • * (1800-1859)
  • *:As sharp legal practitioners, no class of human beings can bear comparison with them.
  • *(Richard Chenevix Trench) (1807-1886)
  • *:The miracles of our Lord and those of the Old Testament afford many interesting points of comparison .
  • *
  • *:"I don't want to spoil any comparison you are going to make," said Jim, "but I was at Winchester and New College." ΒΆ "That will do," said Mackenzie. "I was dragged up at the workhouse school till I was twelve."
  • With a negation, the state of being similar or alike.
  • :
  • (label) The ability of adjectives and adverbs to form three degrees, as in hot, hotter, hottest .
  • That to which, or with which, a thing is compared, as being equal or like; illustration; similitude.
  • *(Bible), (w) iv. 30
  • *:Whereto shall we liken the kingdom of God? Or with what comparison shall we compare it?
  • (label) A simile.
  • (label) The faculty of the reflective group which is supposed to perceive resemblances and contrasts.