simile, n.
(ˈsɪmɪlɪ)
Also β. 7 similie, 7–9 simily.
[L. simile, neut. of similis like. With the form simily (pl. -ies), cf. query for quere, quære.]
1. A comparison of one thing with another, esp. as an ornament in poetry or rhetoric.
| α 1393 Langl. P. Pl. C. xx. 160 By this simile..ich seo an euidence, That ho so synegeþ in þe seynt espirit asoilled worth he neuere. 1589 Greene Menaphon (Arb.) 51 Samela had learnd..to anatomize wit, and speake none but Similes. Ibid. 88 Stufft with prettie Similes and farre fetcht Metaphores. 1602 Marston Ant. & Mel. 1, No simile Is pretious, choyce, or elegant enough. 1646 Sir T. Browne Pseud. Ep. i. ix. (1686) 26 Playing much upon the simile or illustrative argumentation. 1712 Addison Spect. No 303 ¶20 Milton..never quits his Simile till it rises to some very great Idea, which [etc.]. 1779 Johnson L.P., Pope, A simile, to be perfect, must both illustrate and ennoble the subject. 1825 Lytton Falkland 8, I could wish..that this simile were in all things correct. 1858 Doran Court Fools 167 Some of his similes are drawn from his profession. 1873 C. M. Davies Unorth. Lond. (ed. 2) 72, That was aptly illustrated by the simile of the infant that can only cry. |
| β 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. ii. i. 45 Did he not moralize this spectacle?.. O yes, into a thousand similies. 1636 Davenant Platonic Lovers Wks. (1673) 390 An excellent Similie for a Painter, That would draw a good face. 1695 J. Edwards Perfect. Script. 386 The same simily is made use of in Terence. 1728 Pope Dunc. i. 64 There motley Images her fancy strike, Figures ill-paired, and Similies unlike. 1759 Sterne Tr. Shandy ii. ii, Even my similies,..my illustrations, my metaphors, are erudite. 1824 Landor Imag. Conv., Delille & Landor, The simily is imperfect, because the fact is untrue. 1846 Wright Ess. Mid. Ages I. i. 13 [In] Anglo-Saxon poetry..Similies..are rare. |
b. Without article.
| 1682 Sheffield (Dk. Buckhm.) Ess. Poetry, They sigh in simile and die in Rhyme. c 1700 Prior Dial. Dead, Locke & Montaigne, Simile is the very Algebra of Discourse. 1707 ― A Simile 4 'Tis but by way of Simile. 1864 Lowell Fireside Trav. 165 How would he have run him up and down the gamut of simile! |
c. Comb., as
simile-maker,
simile-monger.
| 1676 Wycherley Pl. Dealer ii. i, I cou'd not..sit to a vain young Simile-maker, tho' he flatter'd me. 1868 Helps Realmah viii. (1876) 178 That sort of confusion is indulged in by all simile-mongers. |
† 2. Likeness, resemblance; similarity.
Obs.| 1604 R. Cawdrey Table Alph., Similie,..likenes, or resemblance. 1613 J. Davies (Heref.) Muses Teares Wks. (Grosart) I. 5/1 The Simile twixt God and Man is such, That God is said to be immortall Man. 1692 Tryon Good Housew. made Doctor xiv. 103 What likeness or correspondence is there between Cloves, Mace,..and..Herbs or Flesh? Verily there is no simile between them. |
† b. The likeness of a thing.
Obs.—1| 1742 Lond. & Country Brew. ii. (ed. 2) 151 Everything delighteth to produce its own Simile. |
Hence
ˈsimile v. trans., to express by a simile.
| 1727 Philip Quarll 219 Having similed every different Part, he proceeds in the Representation thereof. 1972 G. Jones Kings, Beasts, & Heroes ii. i. 75 We are told the colour of her hair and hands, her flesh and bosom, but she stays cool to view as..a wax doll. A clean doll, admittedly... And one most nobly similied. |