compare

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To look at two or more things to see how they are similar or different.

   I compared my haircut to my friend's.

2. 2
   verb

   To say that one thing is like another in some way.

   Astronomers have compared comets to dirty snowballs.

3. 3
   verb

   To be as good as or similar to something else (often used in the negative).

   This car does not compare with our line of far superior cars.

From Middle English comparen, from Old French comparer, from Latin comparare (“to prepare, procure”), from compar (“like or equal to another”), from com- + par (“equal”). Displaced native Old English metan (“to compare,” also “to measure”).

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