Etymology

compare

C3O1M3P3A1R1E1

Today it means: To assess the similarities and differences between two or more things ["to compare X with Y"]. Having made the comparison of X with Y, one might have found it similar to Y or different from Y. Full definition →

Middle English comparen ← Old French comparer ← Latin comparare
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Latin · derived fromcomparare“to prepare, procure”
  2. Old French · derived fromcomparer
  3. Middle English · inherited fromcomparen
  4. English todaycompare

From Middle English comparen, from Old French comparer, from Latin comparare (“to prepare, procure”), from compar (“like or equal to another”), from com- + par (“equal”). Displaced native Old English metan (“to compare,” also “to measure”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.