Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Something that bears an analogy to something else; something that is comparable.
  • noun Biology An organ or structure that is similar in function to one in another kind of organism but is of dissimilar evolutionary origin.
  • noun Chemistry A structural derivative of a parent compound that often differs from it by a single element.
  • adjective Of, relating to, or being a device in which data or a signal is represented by continuously variable, measurable, physical quantities, such as length, width, voltage, or pressure.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A simplified spelling of analogue.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective of a device or system in which the value of a data item (such as time) is represented by a continuously variable physical quantity that can be measured (such as the shadow of a sundial)
  • noun countable something that bears an analogy to something else
  • noun countable, biology an organ or structure that is similar in function to one in another kind of organism but is of dissimilar evolutionary origin
  • noun chemistry a structural derivative of a parent compound that often differs from it by a single element

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective of a circuit or device having an output that is proportional to the input
  • noun something having the property of being analogous to something else

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French analogue, analogous, analog, from Medieval Latin analogus, from Greek analogos, proportionate; see analogous.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Early 19th century; from French analogue, from Ancient Greek ἀνάλογος ("proportionate"), from ἀνά (ana, "up to") + λόγος (logos, "ratio").

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Examples

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  • Food products, derived from plants such as soybeans or wheat, which are made to taste like and resemble meat or dairy products. John Harvey Kellogg was a pioneer in the production and promotion of meat analogues.

    November 26, 2008