comparable

Something suitable for comparison.

Adjective

  1. Able to be compared (to).
    • An elephant is comparable in size to a double-decker bus.
    • You can't say that robbing a bank is like pickpocketing. The two are just not comparable.
    • The firebox married to Britannia's boiler is not, however, in the Doncaster tradition, notwithstanding that it is comparable in dimensions to that of the "V2." - 1951 April, Stirling Everard, “A Matter of Pedigree”, in...
  2. Similar (to); like.
    • Furthermore, this increase in risk is comparable to the risk of death from leukemia after long-term exposure to benzene, another solvent, which has the well-known property of causing this type of cancer. - 2013...
  3. Constituting a pair in a particular partial order.
    • Six and forty-two are comparable in the divides order, but six and nine are not.
  4. Having comparative and superlative forms.
    • "Big" is a comparable adjective because it can take the forms "bigger" and "biggest"; "unique" and "amazing", in contrast, are not comparable adjectives.

    Synonyms: gradable

Origin

From Middle English comparable, from Middle French comparable, from Latin comparābilis. By surface analysis, compare + -able.

Forms

more comparable most comparable

Derived

biocomparable comparability comparable function comparableness comparable worth comparably incomparable intercomparable noncomparable uncomparable

Noun

  1. Something suitable for comparison.
    • And the appraiser said he couldn't come up with comparables, because there hadn't been any sales nearby in several months. - 2009 January 2, Fred A. Bernstein, “Catskill Home Prices: How Low Will They Go?”, in New York...

Forms

comparables