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Divide vs Compare - What's the difference?

divide | compare |

In transitive terms the difference between divide and compare

is that divide is to share (something) by dividing it while compare is to declare two things to be similar in some respect ["to compare X to Y"].

In intransitive terms the difference between divide and compare

is that divide is to separate into two or more parts while compare is to be similar (often used in the negative).

In obsolete terms the difference between divide and compare

is that divide is to have a share; to partake while compare is to get; to obtain.

divide

English

Verb

(divid)
  • To split or separate (something) into two or more parts.
  • a wall divides''' two houses; a stream '''divides the towns
  • * Bible, 1 Kings iii. 25
  • Divide the living child in two.
  • To share (something) by dividing it.
  • * Spenser
  • true justice unto people to divide
  • (arithmetic) To calculate the number (the quotient) by which you must multiply one given number (the divisor) to produce a second given number (the dividend).
  • (arithmetic) To be a divisor of.
  • To separate into two or more parts.
  • (biology) Of a cell, to reproduce by dividing.
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-07-20, volume=408, issue=8845, magazine=(The Economist)
  • , title= Welcome to the plastisphere , passage=[The researchers] noticed many of their pieces of [plastic marine] debris sported surface pits around two microns across. Such pits are about the size of a bacterial cell. Closer examination showed that some of these pits did, indeed, contain bacteria, and that in several cases these bacteria were dividing and thus, by the perverse arithmetic of biological terminology, multiplying.}}
  • To disunite in opinion or interest; to make discordant or hostile; to set at variance.
  • * Bible, Mark iii. 24
  • If a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand.
  • * Prescott
  • Every family became now divided within itself.
  • (obsolete) To break friendship; to fall out.
  • * 1605 , , I. ii. 107:
  • love cools, friendship / falls off, brothers divide .
  • (obsolete) To have a share; to partake.
  • * 1608 , , I. vi. 87:
  • Make good this ostentation, and you shall / Divide in all with us.
  • To vote, as in the British Parliament, by the members separating themselves into two parties (as on opposite sides of the hall or in opposite lobbies), that is, the ayes dividing from the noes.
  • * Gibbon
  • The emperors sat, voted, and divided with their equals.
  • To mark divisions on; to graduate.
  • to divide a sextant
  • (music) To play or sing in a florid style, or with variations.
  • (Spenser)

    Synonyms

    * (split into two or more parts) cut up, disunite, partition, split, split up * (share by dividing) divvy up, divide up, share, share out * (separate into two or more parts) separate, shear, split, split up

    Antonyms

    * (split into two or more parts) combine, merge, unify, unite * (calculate times of multiplication) multiply

    See also

    * quotient * separate

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A thing that divides.
  • Stay on your side of the divide , please.
  • An act of dividing.
  • The divide left most of the good land on my share of the property.
  • A distancing between two people or things.
  • There is a great divide between us.
  • (geography) A large chasm, gorge, or ravine between two areas of land.
  • If you're heading to the coast, you'll have to cross the divide first.
    ----

    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 ----