† aˈnalogism Obs. rare.
[ad. Gr. ἀναλογισµ-ός proportionate calculation, f. ἀναλογίζ-εσθαι f. ἀνάλογος: see analogon, and -ism.]
1. Math. The constitution of a proportion.
| 1656 Hobbes Philos. ii. xiii. §4 Eng. Wks. I. 146 When four magnitudes are to one another in geometrical proportion, they are called proportionals; and by some, more briefly, analogism. 1677 Baker in Rigaud Corr. Sci. Men (1841) II. 29, I work all..by analogism, bringing them to be wrought geometrically, he only arithmetically. |
2. ‘An argument from the cause to the effect,’ J.; à priori reasoning.
| 1656 Blount Glossogr., Analogism, a forcible argument, from the Cause to the Effect, implying an unanswerable necessity. [Whence in Phillips, Bailey, Johnson, etc.] |
3. Med. The judgment of diseases by similar appearances; diagnosis by analogy.
| 1706 Phillips, Analogism, In the Art of Physick, a Comparison of Causes relating to a Disease. 1753 Chambers Cycl. Supp. s.v., A discourse on the Analogism of fevers. |