different between use vs like

English

Etymology

Noun from Middle English use, from Old French us, from Latin ?sus (“use, custom, skill, habit”), from past participle stem of ?tor (“use”). Displaced native Middle English note (“use”) (See note) from Old English notu, and Middle English nutte (“use”) from Old English nytt.

Verb from Middle English usen, from Old French user (“use, employ, practice”), from Vulgar Latin *usare (“use”), frequentative form of past participle stem of Latin uti (“to use”). Displaced native Middle English noten, nutten (“to use”) (from Old English notian, n?otan, nyttian) and Middle English brouken, bruken (“to use, enjoy”) (from Old English br?can).

Pronunciation

Noun

• enPR: yo?os, IPA^(key): /ju?s/
• Rhymes: -u?s

Verb

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: yo?oz, IPA^(key): /ju?z/
• (General American) enPR: yo?oz, IPA^(key): /juz/

Rhymes: -u?z

Homophones: ewes, yews, yous, youse

Noun

use (countable and uncountable, plural uses)

1. The act of using.

   Synonyms: employment, usage, note, nait

2. (uncountable) The act of consuming alcohol or narcotics.
3. (uncountable, followed by "of") Usefulness, benefit.

   Synonyms: benefit, good, point, usefulness, utility, note, nait

4. A function; a purpose for which something may be employed.

5. Occasion or need to employ; necessity.

6. (obsolete, rare) Interest for lent money; premium paid for the use of something; usury.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2 Scene 1

     DON PEDRO. Come, lady, come; you have lost the heart of Signior Benedick.

     BEATRICE. Indeed, my lord, he lent it me awhile; and I gave him use for it, a double heart for a single one: [...]

   • 1650, Jeremy Taylor, The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living

     Thou art more obliged to pay duty and tribute, use and principal, to him.

7. (archaic) Continued or repeated practice; usage; habit.
8. (obsolete) Common occurrence; ordinary experience.
9. (Christianity) The special form of ritual adopted for use in any diocese.

   • From henceforth all the whole realm shall have but one use.

10. (forging) A slab of iron welded to the side of a forging, such as a shaft, near the end, and afterward drawn down, by hammering, so as to lengthen the forging.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

• no use
• what’s the use

Translations

Verb

use (third-person singular simple present uses, present participle using, simple past and past participle used)

1. To utilize or employ.
   1. (transitive) To employ; to apply; to utilize.
   2. (transitive, often with up) To expend; to consume by employing.

   3. (transitive) To exploit.
   4. (transitive) To consume (alcohol, drugs, etc), especially regularly.

      He uses cocaine. I have never used drugs.

   5. (intransitive) To consume a previously specified substance, especially a drug to which one is addicted.

   6. (transitive, with auxiliary "could") To benefit from; to be able to employ or stand.

2. To accustom; to habituate. (Now common only in participial form. Uses the same pronunciation as the noun; see usage notes.)

   (still common)

   (now rare)

   1. (reflexive, obsolete, with "to") To become accustomed, to accustom oneself.
      • 1714, Bernard Mandeville, The Fable of the Bees, London: T. Ostell, 1806, Sixth Dialogue, p. 466,^[1]

        It is not without some difficulty, that a man born in society can form an idea of such savages, and their condition; and unless he has used himself to abstract thinking, he can hardly represent to himself such a state of simplicity, in which man can have so few desires, and no appetites roving beyond the immediate call of untaught nature […]

      • 1742, Samuel Richardson, Pamela, London: S. Richardson, 4th edition, Volume 3, Letter 12, p. 53,^[2]

        So that reading constantly, and thus using yourself to write, and enjoying besides the Benefit of a good Memory, every thing you heard or read, became your own […]

      • 1769, John Leland, Discourses on Various Subjects, London: W. Johnston and J. Dodsley, Volume 1, Discourse 16, p. 311,^[3]

        […] we must be constant and faithful to our Words and Promises, and use ourselves to be so even in smaller Matters […]

      • 1876, George Eliot, Daniel Deronda, Book 3, Chapter 24,^[4]

        The family troubles, she thought, were easier for every one than for her—even for poor dear mamma, because she had always used herself to not enjoying.

3. (intransitive, now rare, literary, except in past tense) To habitually do; to be wont to do. (Now chiefly in past-tense forms; see used to.)
   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, 1 Peter 4:9,^[5]

     Use hospitality one to another without grudging.

   • 1764, Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto, II:

     I do not use to let my wife be acquainted with the secret affairs of my state; they are not within a woman's province.

4. (dated) To behave toward; to act with regard to; to treat.
   • c. 1590, William Shakespeare, Henry VI, Part 3, Act II, Scene 6,^[6]

     See who it is: and, now the battle’s ended,

     If friend or foe, let him be gently used.

   • 1611, King James Version of the Bible, Luke 6:28,^[7]

     Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you.

   • 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes, in Paradise Regain’d. A Poem in IV Books, to which is added Samson Agonistes, London: John Starkey, p. 58,^[8]

     If in my flower of youth and strength, when all men / Lov’d, honour’d, fear’d me, thou alone could hate me / Thy Husband, slight me, sell me, forgo me; / How wouldst thou use me now, blind, and thereby / Deceivable […]

   • 1713, Joseph Addison, Cato: A Tragedy, London: J. Tonson, Act I, Scene 2, p. 6,^[9]

     Cato has used me Ill: He has refused / His Daughter Marcia to my ardent Vows.

   • , Book 8, Chapter 3,

     “I hope,” said Jones, “you don’t intend to leave me in this condition.” “Indeed but I shall,” said the other. “Then,” said Jones, “you have used me rascally, and I will not pay you a farthing.”

5. (reflexive, obsolete) To behave, act, comport oneself.
   • 1551, Thomas More, Utopia, London: B. Alsop & T. Fawcet, 1639, “Of Bond-men, Sicke persons, Wedlocke, and divers other matters,” page 231,^[10]

     They live together lovingly: For no Magistrate is either haughty or fearefull. Fathers they be called, and like fathers they use themselves.

   • c. 1558, George Cavendish, The Life and Death of Thomas Wolsey, cardinal, edited by Grace H. M. Simpson, London: R. & T. Washbourne, 1901, page 57,^[11]

     I pray to God that this may be a sufficient admonition unto thee to use thyself more wisely hereafter, for assure thyself that if thou dost not amend thy prodigality, thou wilt be the last Earl of our house.

Usage notes

• When meaning "accustom, habituate" or "habitually do (or employ)", the verb use is pronounced /ju?s/ (like the noun use); these senses and hence this pronunciation is now found chiefly in the past tense or as a past participle (/ju?st/), or in the (past) negative form did not use (as in I did not use to like her or the dragoons did not use [habituate, become habituated] to the Russian cold). In all other senses, it is pronounced /ju?z/ (past tense/participle /ju?zd/).
• See also the usage notes at used to (and use to) for more, especially on the use of this sense in interrogatives, negatives, and the past tense.

Synonyms

• (employ, apply, utilize): apply, employ, engage, utilise, utilize
• (exploit): exploit, take advantage of

Derived terms

Translations

References

• use in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.

Anagrams

• EUS, SEU, Sue, UEs, sue, ues

Alemannic German

Alternative forms

• ussa, usse, uuse

Etymology

Contraction of us + hii.

Pronunciation

• (Zurich) IPA^(key): /?uz?/

Adverb

use

1. out
   • 1903, Robert Walser, Der Teich:

     Aber i muess pressiere, daß i bald fertig wirde. Nächär chani use go spiele.

     But I need to hurry so I can finish soon. Then I can go out and play.

Asturian

Verb

use

1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of usar

Chuukese

Etymology

From u- +? -se.

Pronoun

use

1. I do not

Adjective

use

1. I am not
2. I was not

Related terms

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /yz/

Verb

use

1. first/third-person singular present indicative of user
2. first/third-person singular present subjunctive of user
3. second-person singular imperative of user

Anagrams

• eus, sue, sué

Italian

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?u.ze/
• Rhymes: -uze

Adjective

use

1. feminine plural of uso

Anagrams

• sue

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /?u?.se/, [?u?s??]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /?u.se/, [?u?s??]

Participle

?se

1. vocative masculine singular of ?sus

Manx

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Noun

use m (genitive singular use, plural useyn)

1. (finance) interest; usury

Derived terms

Portuguese

Verb

use

1. first-person singular (eu) present subjunctive of usar
2. third-person singular (ele and ela, also used with você and others) present subjunctive of usar
3. third-person singular (você) affirmative imperative of usar
4. third-person singular (você) negative imperative of usar

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?use/, [?u.se]

Verb

use

1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of usar.
2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of usar.
3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of usar.
4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted^?) present subjunctive form of usar.

English

Alternative forms

• lak

Pronunciation

• enPR: l?k, IPA^(key): /la?k/
• Rhymes: -a?k

Etymology 1

Verb from Middle English liken, from Old English l?cian (“to please; be sufficient”), from Proto-West Germanic *l?k?n, from Proto-Germanic *l?k?n? (“to please”), from Proto-Indo-European *leyg- (“image; likeness; similarity”).

Cognate with Saterland Frisian liekje (“to be similar, resemble”), Dutch lijken (“to seem”), German Low German lieken (“to be like; resemble”), German gleichen (“to resemble”), Swedish lika (“to like; put up with; align with”), Norwegian like (“to like”), Icelandic líka (“to like”).

Noun from Middle English like (“pleasure, will, like”), from the verb Middle English liken (“to like”).

Verb

like (third-person singular simple present likes, present participle liking, simple past and past participle liked)

1. To enjoy, be pleased by; favor; be in favor of.

   Antonyms: dislike, hate, mislike

   • He may either go or stay, as he best likes.
2. (transitive, archaic) To please.
3. (obsolete) To derive pleasure of, by or with someone or something.
4. To prefer and maintain (an action) as a regular habit or activity.

5. (obsolete) To have an appearance or expression; to look; to seem to be (in a specified condition).
6. (archaic) To come near; to avoid with difficulty; to escape narrowly.
7. To find attractive; to prefer the company of; to have mild romantic feelings for.

   Synonyms: (British) fancy, enjoy, love

   Antonyms: dislike, hate, mislike
8. (obsolete) To liken; to compare.
9. (Internet, transitive) To show support for, or approval of, something posted on the Internet by marking it with a vote.

   Antonyms: unlike, dislike

10. (with 'would' and in certain other phrases) To want, desire. See also would like.

Usage notes

• In its senses of “enjoy” and “maintain as a regular habit”, like is a catenative verb; in the former, it usually takes a gerund (-ing form), while in the latter, it takes a to-infinitive. See also Appendix:English catenative verbs.
• Like is only used to mean “want” in certain expressions, such as “if you like” and “I would like”. The conditional form, would like, is used quite freely as a polite synonym for want.

Conjugation

Derived terms

Related terms

• like like
• would like

Translations

Noun

like (plural likes)

1. (usually in the plural) Something that a person likes (prefers).

   Synonyms: favorite, preference

   Antonyms: dislike, pet hate, pet peeve

2. (Internet) An individual vote showing support for, or approval of, something posted on the Internet.

Translations

References

• like on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Etymology 2

Adjective from Middle English like, lyke, from Old English ?el?? by shortening, influenced by Old Norse líkr, glíkr; both from Proto-Germanic *gal?kaz (“like, similar, same”). Related to alike; more distantly, with lich and -ly. Cognate with West Frisian like (“like; as”), Saterland Frisian gliek (“like”), Danish lig (“alike”), Dutch gelijk (“like, alike”), German gleich (“equal, like”), Icelandic líkur (“alike, like, similar”), Norwegian lik (“like, alike”) Swedish lik (“like, similar”)

Adverb from Middle English like, lyke, liche, lyche, from Old English ?el??e (“likewise, also, as, in like manner, similarly”) and Old Norse líka (“also, likewise”); both from Proto-Germanic *gal?kê, from Proto-Germanic *gal?kaz (“same, like, similar”).

Conjunction from Middle English like, lyke, lik, lyk, from the adverb Middle English like.

Preposition from Middle English like, lyke, liche, lyche, lijc, liih (“similar to, like, equal to, comparable with”), from Middle English like (adjective) and like (adverb).

Adjective

like (comparative more like, superlative most like)

1. Similar.
   • 1843, Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present, book 2, ch. 3, Landlord Edmund

     […] and this is not a sky, it is a Soul and living Face! Nothing liker the Temple of the Highest, bright with some real effulgence of the Highest, is seen in this world.
2. (obsolete) Likely; probable.
   • 1668, Robert South, The Messiah's Sufferings for the Sins of the People (sermon, March 20, 1668)

     But it is like the jolly world about us will scoff at the paradox of these practices.

Hyponyms

Derived terms

Related terms

• as like as not

Translations

Adverb

like (comparative more like, superlative most like)

1. (obsolete, colloquial) Likely.
   • 1599, William Shakespeare, Much Ado About Nothing, Act 2 Scene 3

     DON PEDRO. May be she doth but counterfeit.

     CLAUDIO. Faith, like enough. [= Indeed, quite likely.]

2. (archaic or rare) In a like or similar manner.

   • Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him.

Noun

like (countable and uncountable, plural likes)

2. (sometimes as the likes of) Someone similar to a given person, or something similar to a given object; a comparative; a type; a sort.
   • 1935, Winston Churchill on T.E. Lawrence

     We shall never see his like again.

3. (golf) The stroke that equalizes the number of strokes played by the opposing player or side.

Synonyms

• ilk

Antonyms

• antithesis, opposite

Derived terms

• like-for-like

Translations

Conjunction

like

1. (colloquial) As, the way.
   • 1966, Advertising slogan for Winston cigarettes

     Winston tastes good like a cigarette should

   • 1978, "Do Unto Others" by Bob Dylan

     But if you do right to me, baby

     I’ll do right to you, too

     Ya got to do unto others

     Like you’d have them, like you’d have them, do unto you

2. As if; as though.

Usage notes

• The American Heritage Dictionary opines that using like as a conjunction, instead of as, the way, as if, or as though, is informal; it has, however, been routine since the Middle English period. AHD4 says "Writers since Chaucer's time have used like as a conjunction, but 19th-century and 20th-century critics have been so vehement in their condemnations of this usage that a writer who uses the construction in formal style risks being accused of illiteracy or worse", and recommends using as in formal speech and writing. OED does not tag it as colloquial or nonstandard, but notes, "Used as conj[unction]: = 'like as', as. Now generally condemned as vulgar or slovenly, though examples may be found in many recent writers of standing."

Derived terms

• feel like, look like, seem like, sound like

Preposition

like

1. Similar to, reminiscent of.
2. Typical of

   It would be just like Achilles to be sulking in his tent.

3. Approximating

   Popcorn costs something like $10 dollars at the movies.

4. In the manner of, similarly to.

   He doesn't act like a president.

5. Such as

   It's for websites like Wikipedia.

6. As if there would be.

   It looks like a hot summer in Europe.

Synonyms

• (such as): for example, such as, (archaic) as

Antonyms

• unlike

Derived terms

• like a bull at a gate

Translations

Particle

like

1. (colloquial, Scotland, Ireland, Tyneside, Teesside, Liverpudlian) A delayed filler.

2. (colloquial) A mild intensifier.
   • 1972, Charles M. Schulz, Peanuts, December 1:

     [Sally Brown:] Christmas is getting all you can get while the getting is good.
     [Charlie Brown:] GIVING! The only real joy is GIVING!
     [Sally Brown, rolling her eyes:] Like, wow!

3. (colloquial) indicating approximation or uncertainty

4. (colloquial, slang) When preceded by any form of the verb to be, used to mean “to say” or “to think”; used to precede an approximate quotation or paraphrase.
   • 2006, Lily Allen, Knock 'Em Out

     You're just doing your own thing and some one comes out the blue,

     They're like, "Alright"

     What ya saying, "Yeah can I take your digits?"

     And you're like, "no not in a million years, you're nasty please leave me alone."

Synonyms

• (delayed filler): I mean, you know
• (mild intensifier): I mean, well, you know
• (indicating approximation or uncertainty): I mean, well, you know
• (colloquial: used to precede paraphrased quotations): be all, go

Usage notes

The use as a quotative is informal. It is commonly used by young people, and commonly disliked by older generations, especially in repeated use. It may be combined with the use of the present tense as a narrative. Similar terms are to go and all, as in I go, “Why did you do that?” and he goes, “I don't know” and I was all, “Why did you do that?” and he was all, “I don't know.” These expressions can imply that the attributed remark which follows is representative rather than necessarily an exact quotation; however, in speech these structures do tend to require mimicking the original speaker's inflection in a way said would not.

Excessive use of "like" as a meaningless filler is widely criticised.

Translations

Interjection

like

1. (Liverpudlian, Tyneside) Used to place emphasis upon a statement.

Etymology 3

From like (adverb) and like (adjective).

Verb

like (third-person singular simple present likes, present participle liking, simple past and past participle liked)

1. (chiefly dialectal, intransitive) To be likely.

References

• A Dictionary of North East Dialect, Bill Griffiths, 2005, Northumbria University Press, ?ISBN
• like at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• Kiel, Kile, kile, liek

Danish

Etymology

Borrowed from English like.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [l?j??]

Noun

like n (singular definite liket, plural indefinite likes)

1. (Internet) like

Verb

like (imperative like, infinitive at like, present tense liker, past tense likede, perfect tense har liket)

1. (Internet) like

French

Pronunciation

• Homophones: likent, likes

Verb

like

1. first-person singular present indicative of liker
2. third-person singular present indicative of liker
3. first-person singular present subjunctive of liker
4. third-person singular present subjunctive of liker
5. second-person singular imperative of liker

German

Verb

like

1. inflection of liken:
   1. first-person singular present
   2. first/third-person singular subjunctive I
   3. singular imperative

Hawaiian

Etymology

From Proto-Eastern Polynesian *lite. Compare Maori rite.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?li.ke/, [?like]

Verb

like

1. (stative) like, alike, similar

Derived terms

• ho?olike: to make things equal, to make things similar (less common)
• ho?oh?like: to make things equal, to make things similar (more common)

References

• “like” in the Hawaiian Dictionary, Revised and Enlarged Edition, University of Hawaii Press, 1986

Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology 1

From Old Norse líka

Verb

like (imperative lik, present tense liker, simple past likte, past participle likt)

1. to like

Etymology 2

Adjective

like

1. definite singular of lik
2. plural of lik

Etymology 3

Adverb

like

1. as, equally

Derived terms

• likefullt, like fullt
• likeledes
• likeså

References

• “like” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Norwegian Nynorsk

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /²li?k?/

Etymology 1

From Old Norse líka

Alternative forms

• lika

Verb

like (imperative lik or like, present tense likar or liker, simple past lika or likte, past participle lika or likt)

1. to like

Etymology 2

Adjective

like

1. definite singular of lik
2. plural of lik

Etymology 3

From Old Norse líka

Adverb

like

1. as, equally

2. just, immediately

References

• “like” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Scots

Etymology

From Old English l?cian (“to be pleasing”)

Verb

like (third-person singular present likes, present participle likin, past likit, past participle likit)

1. To like.
2. To be hesitant to do something.

3. To love somebody or something.

Adverb

like (not comparable)

1. like

Interjection

like

1. (South Scots) Used to place emphasis upon a statement.

Spanish

Etymology

From English like.

Noun

like m (plural likes)

1. (Internet slang) like

Swedish

Adjective

like

1. absolute definite natural masculine form of lik.

Noun

like c

1. match (someone similarly skillful)

Declension