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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

com·pare

Audio Help [kuh

m-pair] Pronunciation Key verb, -pared, -par·ing, noun

–verb (used with object)

1.	to examine (two or more objects, ideas, people, etc.) in order to note similarities and differences: to compare two pieces of cloth; to compare the governments of two nations.

2.	to consider or describe as similar; liken: Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?

3.	Grammar. to form or display the degrees of comparison of (an adjective or adverb).

–verb (used without object)

4.	to be worthy of comparison; be held equal: Dekker's plays cannot compare with Shakespeare's.

5.	to appear in a similar standing: His recital certainly compares with the one he gave last year.

6.	to differ in quality or accomplishment as specified: Their development compares poorly with that of neighbor nations.

7.	to vie; rival.

8.	to make a comparison: The only way we can say which product is better is to compare.

–noun

9.	comparison: Her beauty is beyond compare.

—Idiom

10.	compare notes. note (def. 32).

[Origin: 1375–1425; late ME comparen < L comparāre to place together, match, v. deriv. of compar alike, matching (see com-, par); r. ME comperen < OF comperer < L

]

—Related forms

com·par·er, noun

—Usage note The traditional rule about which preposition to use after compare states that compare should be followed by to when it points out likenesses or similarities between two apparently dissimilar persons or things: She compared his handwriting to knotted string. Compare should be followed by with, the rule says, when it points out similarities or differences between two entities of the same general class: The critic compared the paintings in the exhibit with magazine photographs. This rule is by no means always observed, however, even in formal speech and writing. The usual practice is to employ to for likenesses between members of different classes: A language may be compared to a living organism. But when the comparison is between members of the same category, both to and with are used: The article compares the Chicago of today with (or to) the Chicago of the 1890s. Following the past participle compared, either to or with is used regardless of whether differences or similarities are stressed or whether the things compared belong to the same or different classes: Compared with (or to) the streets of 18th-century London, New York's streets are models of cleanliness and order.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
compared

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

com·pare Audio Help   (kəm-pâr') Pronunciation Key
v.   com·pared, com·par·ing, com·pares

v.   tr.

To consider or describe as similar, equal, or analogous; liken.
To examine in order to note the similarities or differences of.
Grammar To form the positive, comparative, or superlative degree of (an adjective or adverb).

v. intr.

To be worthy of comparison; bear comparison: two concert halls that just do not compare.
To draw comparisons.

n. Comparison: a musician beyond compare.

[Middle English comparen, from Old French comparer, from Latin comparāre, from compār, equal : com-, com- + pār, equal; see perə-² in Indo-European roots.]

com·par'er n.

Usage Note: Compare usually takes the preposition to when it refers to the activity of describing the resemblances between unlike things: He compared her to a summer day. Scientists sometimes compare the human brain to a computer. It takes with when it refers to the act of examining two like things in order to discern their similarities or differences: The police compared the forged signature with the original. The committee will have to compare the Senate's version of the bill with the version that was passed by the House. When compare is used to mean "to liken (one) with another," with is traditionally held to be the correct preposition: That little bauble is not to be compared with (not to) this enormous jewel. But to is frequently used in this context and is not incorrect.