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analogy

/əˈnælədʒi//əˈnælədʒi/·noun
a comparison that highlights a likeness between two different things
Fig. 1 — On the left, a great sun with a planet wheeling slowly around it; on the right, a tiny atom with a speck of an electron circling its core.
01Definition

An analogy is a bridge between the familiar and the strange: it explains something new by showing how it works like something you already understand. The heart is like a pump; the atom is like a tiny solar system. A good analogy maps part onto part — this corresponds to that — so the structure of the known thing lights up the unknown one. Analogies teach and persuade, but they also mislead the moment the likeness is pushed past the point where it really holds.

02In use
  • iTo explain electric current, the teacher drew an analogy with water flowing through a pipe.
  • iiA vivid analogy lets readers infer how an unfamiliar system behaves from one they already know.
  • iiiThe essay builds its case by analogy, daring to juxtapose two distant eras to show what they share.
03Collocations
  • draw an analogy
  • by analogy
  • a close analogy
  • a false analogy
  • an analogy between

Family analogous (adjective) · analogically (adverb) · analogue (noun)

04Relations

=comparison, parallel, correspondence, likeness, metaphor

≠contrast, difference

06TOEFL & IELTS

A core academic noun. 'To draw an analogy between X and Y' is a clean, high-level move in IELTS Writing and TOEFL Speaking when you explain an abstract idea. Examiners also test 'analogous to' (similar in a specific way). Beware the 'false analogy' — a comparison that breaks down — which is a named reasoning flaw in argument essays. Stress falls on the second syllable: a-NAL-o-gy.

07Asked
What is the difference between an analogy and a metaphor?
A metaphor is a figure of speech — it asserts an identity for effect ('time is a thief') and moves on. An analogy is an act of explanation or argument: it maps part onto part to make something clearer ('the heart works like a pump: valves in, valves out'). Metaphors decorate meaning; analogies transfer understanding — and can be tested.
What is the difference between an analogy and a simile?
A simile is a one-line comparison flagged by like or as: 'brave as a lion'. An analogy is the extended, structural version — A relates to B as C relates to D — built to explain, not just to describe. Every analogy could be compressed into a simile; almost no simile unpacks into a working analogy.
What is a false analogy?
A named reasoning fallacy: two things share one feature, so the arguer treats them as sharing others — 'employees are like nails: hit them on the head to make them work'. The likeness is real but trivial, the conclusion borrowed illegitimately. Argument essays win marks by spotting where an analogy's mapping quietly breaks.
What is a good example of an analogy?
The classroom classic is playing in the scene above: the atom is like a tiny solar system — nucleus for sun, electrons for planets, orbit mapped onto orbit. It earns its keep by transferring structure, and it also shows every analogy's expiry date: push it too far (electrons don't really orbit) and physics politely takes it back.
Do you 'draw' or 'make' an analogy?
Both are standard, with draw the more formal collocation: you draw an analogy between X and Y. The word also travels as an adverbial: 'by analogy with the heart, engineers designed a two-chamber pump'. Whatever the verb, the preposition is between for the pair, with for the single source.
What are verbal analogy questions?
The A-is-to-B-as-C-is-to-D format of reasoning tests: 'glove : hand :: sock : ?'. Written glove:hand::sock:foot, the notation reads 'is to... as'. They test exactly what the word names — seeing that two pairs share a relationship — which is why 'analogical reasoning' is psychologists' term for thinking by structural match.
What does 'analogous to' mean?
Similar in one specific, arguable respect — the adjective is more disciplined than 'similar': 'the committee's role is analogous to a referee's' claims a particular mapping, not general resemblance. Pronounce it uh-NAL-uh-gus: the g hardens and the stress stays put, while the noun runs a-NAL-o-gy.