Analogous
/əˈnæl.ə.ɡəs/noun
Having a similar function, structure, or relationship to something else.
Did you know?Its Greek ancestor, *analogos*, literally meant “proportionate,” and it became a key word in philosophy and mathematics long before English borrowed it.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
analogos
“proportionate; corresponding in ratio”
Late Greek
Greek
analogia
“proportion; due relation; correspondence”
Late Latin
Latin
analogus
“proportionate; corresponding”
14th–16th Century
French/Latin
analogique
“having corresponding relations or proportions”
17th Century
English
analogous
“showing similarity in function or relation”