1. 1. The act of comparing or the process of being compared.
   2. A statement or estimate of similarities and differences.
2. The quality of being similar or equivalent; likeness: no comparison between the two books.
3. Grammar. The modification or inflection of an adjective or adverb to denote the positive, comparative, and superlative degrees, as in English, along with the equative degree in certain other languages, such as Irish Gaelic.

[Middle English comparisoun, from Old French comparaison, from Latin comparātiō, comparātiōn-, from comparātus, past participle of comparāre, to compare. See compare.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.