Meanings
alike1
comparative more alike · superlative most alike
- Having resemblance or similitude; similar; without difference.
Twins are physically alike, that is, similar-looking people on the outside.
- not comparableIn the same manner, form, or degree; in common; equally.
We are all alike concerned in religion.
3 more examples
As the Knight himself seemed tacitly to disclaim alike interest and controul over the immediate favourite of his lady, young Roland was, by circumstances, exempted from the strict discipline to which, as the retainer of a Scottish man of rank, he would otherwise have been subjected, according to all the rigour of the age.
1820, [Walter Scott], chapter III, in The Abbot. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne & Co.] for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Company, and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC, page 73Carried somehow, somewhither, for some reason, on these surging floods, were these travelers, of errand not wholly obvious to their fellows, yet of such sort as to call into query alike the nature of their errand and their own relations.
1910, Emerson Hough, chapter II, in The Purchase Price: Or The Cause of Compromise, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, →OCLCThe wide prospect up stream was grey and lowering, the long still-distant waterfront of Dundee, and the Fife shore were alike colourless, and there was ample evidence of rough weather not far ahead.
1947 January and February, O. S. Nock, “"The Aberdonian" in Wartime”, in Railway Magazine, page 7- not comparableUsed after a list of subjects to indicate that something applies equally to all of them.
The new policy will benefit employees and customers alike.
2 more examples
In the words of an official report (that might well apply to all the railways): "Public interest in the region of Cuenca is not favourable towards completion of the railway, probably because it has shifted towards the road construction programme now being favoured by the Government and public alike."
1957 December 28, J. G. Alderson, “By Rail Through the Andes in Ecuador”, in Railway Magazine, page 837There is a dangerous censoriousness pulsing through American society. In small towns and big cities alike, would-be commissars are fighting, in the name of a distinct minority of Americans, to stifle open discussion and impose their views on the community at large. Dissenters, when they speak out, are hounded, ostracized and sometimes even forced from their jobs.
2022 February 18, Jamelle Bouie, “Opinion: You Just Can’t Tell the Truth About America Anymore”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 02 May 2023
Alike2
- A village in Dakshina Kannada district, Karnataka, India.
Synonyms & antonyms
adverbequally
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Old Englishġelīċe“alike, similarly”
- Middle Englishyliche
- Middle Englisholiche
- Old Englishonlīċe
- Middle Englishaliche
- Proto-Germanic*galīkaz“alike, similar”
- Proto-West Germanic*galīk
- Old Englishġelīċ“like; alike; similar; equal”
- Middle Englishylich
- Old Englishonlīċ
- Middle Englishalich
- Englishalike
The adjective comes from a conflation of several different terms: * Middle English alich, alych, alyke, a Late Middle English development from earlier Middle English anlich, anlyke, from Old English onlīċ, anlīċ. Compare German ähnlich. * The borrowed Old Norse cognate of the same word, álíkr, ultimately yielding similar Late Middle English forms. * Middle English ylich, ylych, ilich, ylik, ylike, ȝelic, from Old English ġelīċ (“like; alike; similar; equal”), from Proto-West Germanic *galīk, from Proto-Germanic *galīkaz (“alike, similar”). Cognate with Scots elyke, alyke (“like, alike”), Saterland Frisian gliek (“like, alike”), West Frisian lyk, gelyk (“like, alike”), Dutch gelijk (“like, alike”), German Low German liek, gliek (“like, alike”), German gleich (“equal, like”), Danish lig (“alike”), Swedish lik (“like, similar”), Norwegian lik (“like, alike”), Icelandic líkur (“alike, like, similar”). Equivalent to a- (Etymology 3) + like. Compare also West Frisian allyk (“all the same, alike”). Similarly, the adverb also comes from a conflation of several different terms: * Middle English aliche, alyche, alyke, a Late Middle English development from earlier Middle English anliche, anlyke, from Old English onlīċe, anlīċe. * Additionally Middle English oliche, olike, ultimately from the Old Norse cognate of the same word, álíka. * Middle English yliche, ylyche, iliche, ylike, ȝelice, from Old English ġelīċe (“alike, similarly”).
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ὁμῶς
- ὁμῶς (homôs)tn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
Bulgarian една́къв, подо́бен
- една́къв (ednákăv)having resemblance; similar
- подо́бен (podóben)having resemblance; similar
- схо́ден (shóden)having resemblance; similar
Chinese Mandarin 相似, 相同
- 相似 (xiāngsì)having resemblance; similar
- 相同 (xiāngtóng)having resemblance; similar
- 一樣 /一样 (yīyàng)having resemblance; similar
- 同樣 /同样 (tóngyàng)having resemblance; similar
Dutch gelijk, hetzelfde
- gelijkhaving resemblance; similar
- hetzelfdehaving resemblance; similar
Finnish samanlainen, samannäköinen
- samanlainenhaving resemblance; similar
- samannäköinenhaving resemblance; similar
- yhtätn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
- yhtäläisestitn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
French semblable, pareil
- semblablehaving resemblance; similar
- pareilhaving resemblance; similar
- analoguehaving resemblance; similar
- pareillementtn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
German gleich, gleichermaßen
- gleichhaving resemblance; similar
- gleichermaßentn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
- gleichtn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
Hungarian egyforma, ugyanolyan
- egyformahaving resemblance; similar
- ugyanolyanhaving resemblance; similar
- hasonlóhaving resemblance; similar
- egyaránttn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
- egyformántn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
- hasonlóképpentn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
Irish mar a chéile, cosúil le chéile
- mar a chéilehaving resemblance; similar
- cosúil le chéilehaving resemblance; similar
- mar an gcéannahaving resemblance; similar
- mar an gcéannatn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
Italian simile, similmente
- similehaving resemblance; similar
- similmentetn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
- ugualmentetn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
Japanese 同じような
- 同じような (onaji yō na)having resemblance; similar
Māori oropapa
- oropapahaving resemblance; similar
Portuguese parecido, semelhante
- parecidohaving resemblance; similar
- semelhantehaving resemblance; similar
- similarhaving resemblance; similar
- afimhaving resemblance; similar
- igualmentetn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
- similarmentetn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
Russian одина́ковый, подо́бный
- одина́ковый (odinákovyj)having resemblance; similar
- подо́бный (podóbnyj)having resemblance; similar
- похо́жий (poxóžij)having resemblance; similar
- схо́жий (sxóžij)having resemblance; similar
- тако́й же (takój že)having resemblance; similar
- одина́ково (odinákovo)tn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
- подо́бно (podóbno)tn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
- похо́же (poxóže)tn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
- то́чно та́к же (tóčno ták že)tn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
Spanish igual, semejante
- igualhaving resemblance; similar
- semejantehaving resemblance; similar
- parecidohaving resemblance; similar
- igualmentetn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
- similarmentetn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
- de la misma maneratn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
- por igualtn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
Swedish likadan, lika
- likadanhaving resemblance; similar
- likahaving resemblance; similar
- liknandehaving resemblance; similar
Tagalog kagaya, katulad
- kagayahaving resemblance; similar
- katuladhaving resemblance; similar
Thai เหมือนกัน
- เหมือนกัน (mʉ̌ʉan-gan)having resemblance; similar
Turkish benzer, müşabih
- benzerhaving resemblance; similar
- müşabihhaving resemblance; similar
- mümasilhaving resemblance; similar
Vietnamese na ná, giông giống
- na náhaving resemblance; similar
- giông giốnghaving resemblance; similar
- tương tựhaving resemblance; similar
- đềutn the same manner, form, or degree; equally
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with alike
Anagrams
Cite this entry
alike. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alike
“alike.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alike. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “alike,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/alike.
Source: alike on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.