analogous
ana·lo·gous
adjective
similar or correspondent in some respects though otherwise dissimilar
- “brains and computers are often considered analogous”
- “surimi is marketed as analogous to crabmeat”
corresponding in function but not in evolutionary origin
- “the wings of a bee and those of a hummingbird are analogous”
Origin
From Latin analogus, from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓νᾰ́λογος (ănắlogos); Its English equivalent is analogue + -ous. The application to similar features of organisms is nearly as old as the general sense. Recognizably modern uses of the second sense, distinguishing analogous from homologous, appear in the mid-19th century.
Phrases
- analogous pole
Related words
Word family
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.