different between alike vs similar

English

Etymology

From Middle English alike, alyke, alyche, aleche, and earlier ilike, ilik, ylike, yliche, ylich, elik, ?elic, from Old English ?el?? (“like; alike; similar; equal”) and Old English onl??, anl?? ("like; similar; equal"; > Middle English anlike, onlich (compare German ähnlich), reinforced by Old Norse álíkr, from Proto-Germanic *gal?kaz (“alike, similar”). Cognate with Scots elyke, alyke (“like, alike”), Saterland Frisian gliek (“like, alike”), West Frisian lyk, gelyk (“like, alike”), Dutch gelijk (“like, alike”), German Low German liek, gliek (“like, alike”), German gleich (“equal, like”), Danish lig (“alike”), Swedish lik (“like, similar”), Norwegian lik (“like, alike”), Icelandic líkur (“alike, like, similar”).

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /??la?k/
• Rhymes: -a?k

Adjective

alike (comparative more alike, superlative most alike)

1. Having resemblance or similitude; similar; without difference.

   The twins were alike.

Derived terms

• alikeness

Translations

Adverb

alike (comparative more alike, superlative most alike)

1. In the same manner, form, or degree; in common; equally.

   • Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations.

Derived terms

• share and share alike

Translations

Anagrams

• Kalie, alkie

English

Etymology

From French similaire, from Medieval Latin similaris, extended from Latin similis (“like”); akin to simul (“together”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?s?m?l?/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?s?m?l?/

Adjective

similar (comparative more similar, superlative most similar)

1. Having traits or characteristics in common; alike, comparable.

   • So this was my future home, I thought! Certainly it made a brave picture. I had seen similar ones fired-in on many a Heidelberg stein. Backed by towering hills, […] a sky of palest Gobelin flecked with fat, fleecy little clouds, it in truth looked a dear little city; the city of one's dreams.
2. (mathematics) Of geometrical figures including triangles, squares, ellipses, arcs and more complex figures, having the same shape but possibly different size, rotational orientation, and position; in particular, having corresponding angles equal and corresponding line segments proportional; such that one can be had from the other using a sequence of rotations, translations and scalings.

Synonyms

• (with common characteristics): akin, alike, comparable, identical, same, twin

Antonyms

• (alike): different, unlike, dissimilar

Derived terms

• similarity
• similarly
• similarness

Related terms

Translations

Noun

similar (plural similars)

1. That which is similar to, or resembles, something else, as in quality, form, etc.
2. (homeopathy) A material that produces an effect that resembles the symptoms of a particular disease.

Further reading

• similar in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• similar in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Catalan

Etymology

From Latin simil?ris.

Pronunciation

• (Balearic) IPA^(key): /si.mi?la/
• (Central) IPA^(key): /si.mi?lar/
• (Valencian) IPA^(key): /si.mi?la?/

Adjective

similar (masculine and feminine plural similars)

1. similar

   Synonym: semblant

Related terms

• similitud

Further reading

• “similar” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /s?.mi.?la?/
• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /si.mi.?la(?)/
• Hyphenation: si?mi?lar

Adjective

similar m or f (plural similares, comparable)

1. similar (having traits or characteristics in common)

   Synonyms: parecido, semelhante

Romanian

Etymology

From French similaire

Adjective

similar m or n (feminine singular similar?, masculine plural similari, feminine and neuter plural similare)

1. similar

Declension

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /simi?la?/, [si.mi?la?]
• Hyphenation: si?mi?lar

Adjective

similar (plural similares)

1. similar

   Synonyms: semejante, parecido, símil (rare)

   Antonyms: desemejante, desigual, diferente, disímil, dispar, disparejo, diverso

Related terms

• similitud

Further reading

• “similar” in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014.