English
analogy
Analogy comes from Latin analogia ‘analogy, similarity’, from Ancient Greek λόγος ‘speech, reckoning’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to collect (words)’.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-‘to collect (words)’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*lógosreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλόγοςlógos‘speech, reckoning’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἀναλογίᾱanalogíā
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEanalogia‘analogy, similarity’
- Englishearliest quotation 1841analogy
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*leǵ-‘to collect (words)’reconstructed
- Proto-Hellenicc. 2200–1600 BCE*lógosreconstructed
- Ancient Greekc. 800–300 BCEλόγοςlógos‘speech, reckoning’
- Ancient Greek, derivedc. 800–300 BCEἀναλογίᾱanalogíā
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEanalogia‘analogy, similarity’
- Englishearliest quotation 1841analogy
Earliest quotation: 1841, Ralph Waldo Emerson: “Yet the systole and diastole of the heart are…”
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- ‘to collect (words)’
election, collection, technology, lesson, select, elite, collect, eligible, elect, legion, elegant, coil, negligence, catalogue, negligible, negligent, leach, diligent, lexicon, cull, astrology, lexical, epilogue, legation, dialectical, dialectic, cosmology, lignite, lexis, lignin, gynecologist, alexia, ineligibility, dialogic, 150 more
through Proto-Hellenic *lógos
archaeological, pathological, homologous, etymology, astrological, pathophysiology, psychopathology, neurophysiology, histopathology, bacteriological, 102 more
through Ancient Greek λόγος ‘speech, reckoning’
logic, apology, sociology, trilogy, terminology, physiology, pathology, logos, monologue, prologue, archaeologist, pathologist, logistic, epistemology, eulogy, entomology, etiology, apologia, bacteriology, bacteriologist, syllogism, 111 more
Today it means
noun A relationship of resemblance or equivalence between two situations, people, or objects, especially when used as a basis for explanation or extrapolation.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *leǵ- / analogy