Definitions

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

  • transitive verb To exhibit similarity or likeness to.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To be like to; have similarity to, in form, figure, or qualities.
  • To represent as like something else; liken; compare; note a resemblance.
  • To imitate; simulate; counterfeit.
  • To be like: have a resemblance; appear.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To be like or similar to; to bear the similitude of, either in appearance or qualities.
  • transitive verb obsolete To liken; to compare; to represent as like.
  • transitive verb obsolete To counterfeit; to imitate.
  • transitive verb rare To cause to imitate or be like.

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

  • verb transitive To be like or similar to (something); to represent as similar.
  • verb transitive, archaic To compare; to regard as similar, to liken.
  • verb obsolete, transitive To counterfeit; to imitate.
  • verb obsolete, transitive To cause to imitate or be like; to make similar.

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

  • verb appear like; be similar or bear a likeness to

Etymologies

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

[Middle English resemblen, from Old French resembler : re-, re- + sembler, to appear (from Latin simulāre, to imitate, from similis, like; see sem- in Indo-European roots).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Anglo-Norman, Middle French resembler, from re- + sembler ("to seem").

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Examples

  • And while Locke claims our ideas of primary qualities resemble the primary qualities in objects, and the ideas of secondary qualities do not resemble their causes in the object, what does ˜resemble™ mean in this context?

    John Locke Uzgalis, William 2007

  • The three populations I most resemble from a genetic perspective (besides other Ashkenazic Jews, and, I assume, likely Sephardic Jews as well) are Druze, Bedouin, and Palestinian.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » 2010 » May 2010

  • The three populations I most resemble from a genetic perspective (besides other Ashkenazic Jews, and, I assume, likely Sephardic Jews as well) are Druze, Bedouin, and Palestinian.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » More Interesting DNA Information 2010

  • DM: Unfortunately, the only celebrity I resemble is Anthony Edwards (formerly Dr. Mark Green on ER).

    May 2006 2006

  • It rarely happens that any two copies of the Alif Lila va Lilin resemble each other.

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night 2006

  • DM: Unfortunately, the only celebrity I resemble is Anthony Edwards (formerly Dr. Mark Green on ER).

    ON THE BUBBLE WITH DAVID MONTGOMERY 2006

  • Michael Farris´ mention of Polish is well suited in this context--it always strikes me how many quite common words in Polish resemble their English counterparts with the only exception they are inflected "in the Polish manner".

    languagehat.com: DOWNGELOADET? 2004

  • He gave the guttural a rolling sound that made the word resemble an oath in some exotic language.

    The Mummy Case Peters, Elizabeth 1985

  • They realized that the 9/11 attacks might not be the stunning victory that al-Qaeda and many in the West took them to be at the time, and might in fact more resemble a kamikaze operation that would decimate their ranks.

    The Longest War Peter L. Bergen 2011

  • They realized that the 9/11 attacks might not be the stunning victory that al-Qaeda and many in the West took them to be at the time, and might in fact more resemble a kamikaze operation that would decimate their ranks.

    The Longest War Peter L. Bergen 2011

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