different between similar vs apposite

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.

English

Etymology

From Latin appositus, past participle of adponere, from ad- + ponere (“to put, place”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?a.p?.z?t/
• (US) IPA^(key): /?æ.p?.z?t/, IPA^(key): /??p?z?t/

Adjective

apposite (comparative more apposite, superlative most apposite)

1. Strikingly appropriate or relevant; well suited to the circumstance or in relation to something.
   • c. 1833–1856, Andrew Carrick, John Addington Symonds (editors), Medical Topography of Bristol, in Transactions of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association/Volume 2/3,

     Medical Topography would be the most apposite title, since it comprehends the principal objects of investigation; [...].

   • 1919, H. L. Mencken, The American Language: An inquiry into the development of English in the United States, Chapter 15: The Expanding Vocabulary,

     Rough-neck is a capital word; it is more apposite and savory than the English navvy, and it is over-whelmingly more American.
2. Positioned at rest in respect to another, be it side-to-side, front-to-front, back-to-back, or even three-dimensionally: in apposition.
   • 1971, University of London. School of Oriental and African Studies, Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Volume 34, page 262,

     In other words, they are used to name, rather than to describe. They are apposite nouns and not adjectives.

3. Related, homologous.
   • 2000, David Skeele, "All That Monarchs Do": The Obscured Stages of Authority in Pericles, in Pericles: Critical Essays,

     If the shift in theatrical setting and the shift in dramaturgy are at all related, they are apposite developments, independent yet homologous signs of a changing political and cultural climate.

Synonyms

• (appropriate or relevant): to the point; See also Thesaurus:pertinent
• (positioned at rest in respect to another):
• (related): See also Thesaurus:connected

Related terms

• appositely
• appositeness
• apposition

Translations

Noun

apposite (plural apposites)

1. (rare) That which is apposite; something suitable.

See also

• opposite

References

Italian

Adjective

apposite

1. feminine plural of apposito

Latin

Participle

apposite

1. vocative masculine singular of appositus

References

• apposite in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• apposite in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers