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Simile - 5 dictionary results

sim⋅i⋅le

  [sim-uh-lee]
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–noun
1. a figure of speech in which two unlike things are explicitly compared, as in “she is like a rose.” Compare metaphor.
2. an instance of such a figure of speech or a use of words exemplifying it.
Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L: image, likeness, comparison, n. use of neut. of similis similar
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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sim·i·le   (sĭm'ə-lē)   
n.  A figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared, often in a phrase introduced by like or as, as in "How like the winter hath my absence been" or "So are you to my thoughts as food to life" (Shakespeare).

[Middle English, from Latin, likeness, comparison, from neuter of similis, like; see similar.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Simile

Simi"*le\, n.; pl. Similes. [L., from similis. See Similar.] (Rhet.) A word or phrase by which anything is likened, in one or more of its aspects, to something else; a similitude; a poetical or imaginative comparison.

A good swift simile, but something currish. --Shak.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : Simile
Spanish: símil,
German: der Vergleich,
Japanese: 直喩
More Translations »

simile [(sim-uh-lee)]

A common figure of speech that explicitly compares two things usually considered different. Most similes are introduced by like or as: “The realization hit me like a bucket of cold water.” (Compare metaphor.)

Note: Some similes, such as “sleeping like a log,” have become clichés.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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simile 
1393, from L. simile "a like thing," neuter of similis "like" (see similar). "A simile, to be perfect, must both illustrate and ennoble the subject." [Johnson].
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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