Meanings
- derogatoryhistoricaloftenuncommonuncountablehuman sciencesLong-range comparison; especially, far-fetched long-range comparison that cannot sufficiently demonstrate any genetic relationship.
There have been many recent broadsides on megalocomparison, and those who still think them inappropriate may find this paper a revelation[…]
1994, J. T. Katz, “Review of Explanation in Historical Linguistics by G. W. Davis & G. K. Iverson”, in Language, volume 70, number 1, →DOI, pages 199–2002 more examples
Megalocomparison takes on any more remote relationship, where sound-correspondences are not regular and putative cognates are few, so that chance rivals genetic relationship as the explanation for perceived similarities.
[1990, J. A. Matisoff, “On Megalocomparison”, in Language, volume 66, number 1, →DOI, pages 106–120It seems to be part of a larger project of megalo-comparison whose aim is ultimately to reduce the number of language families in the world to a much smaller number than is now normally accepted.
2009, J. Norman, “A New Look at Altaic [Review of Etymological Dictionary of the Altaic Languages by S. Starostin, A. Dybo, O. Mudrak, I. Gruntov, & V. Glumov]”, in Journal of the American Oriental Society, volume 129, number 1, pages 83–89
Origin
From megalo- + comparison, coined by Matisoff (1990) in a critique of Joseph Greenberg's "mass comparison" (see quotation below).
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
megalocomparison. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/megalocomparison
“megalocomparison.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/megalocomparison. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “megalocomparison,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/megalocomparison.
Source: megalocomparison on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.