Comparison Compared Kəmˈpærɪsn Important Education Countries People Things

• for durkheim, comparison was the most important method of analysis in sociology.
• comparison with other oil-producing countries is extremely interesting.
• the education system bears/stands no comparison with (= is not as good as) that in many asian countries.
• i enclose the two plans for comparison.

comparison

1. the process of comparing two or more people or things
• For Durkheim, comparison was the most important method of analysis in sociology.
• Comparison with other oil-producing countries is extremely interesting.
• The education system bears/stands no comparison with (= is not as good as) that in many Asian countries.
• I enclose the two plans for comparison.

Extra Examples

• Let's put them side by side for comparison.
• Our problems don't bear comparison with those elsewhere.
• The similarity between the two invites comparison.
• a price-comparison site
• to provide a basis for comparison
• One of the groups serves as a comparison group or ‘control’ for the other.
2. an occasion when two or more people or things are compared
• The films are too different for a fair comparison.
• a comparison of the rail systems in Britain and France
• a comparison of men’s salaries with those of women
• comparisons between Britain and the rest of Europe
• a comparison of the brain to a computer (= showing what is similar)
• It is difficult to make a comparison with her previous book—they are completely different.
• You can draw comparisons with the situation in Ireland (= say how the two situations are similar).
• There is no published information that would allow a direct comparison with other regions or countries.

Extra Examples

• a comparison with other schools
• a comparison of unemployment rates over the past 15 years
• a comparison between figures for last year and this year
3. used especially at the beginning of a sentence when the next thing that is mentioned is compared with something in the previous sentence
• By comparison, expenditure on education increased last year.
• His problems seemed trivial by comparison.
4. when compared with somebody/something
• The second half of the game was dull by comparison with the first.
• The tallest buildings in London are small in comparison with New York's skyscrapers.

Extra Examples

• The glasses are small in comparison with the old ones.
• Jane is still quite young, and Fiona seems old by comparison.
5. to seem less important when compared with something else
• Last year's riots pale in comparison with this latest outburst of violence.
• Our problems pale into insignificance when compared to theirs.
6. used to emphasize the difference between two people or things that are being compared
• In terms of price there's no comparison (= one thing is much more expensive than the other).

Word Origin

• Middle English: from Old French comparesoun, from Latin comparatio(n-), from comparare ‘to pair, match’, from compar ‘like, equal’, from com- ‘with’ + par ‘equal’.