similis

Esperanto

Verb

similis

1. past of simili

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *semalis, from Proto-Indo-European *sem-h₂-lo-, from *sem- (“together, one”). Cognate with Ancient Greek ὁμαλός (homalós, “even, level”), Welsh hafal (“equal”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈsi.mi.lis/, [ˈs̠ɪmɪlʲɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈsi.mi.lis/, [ˈsiːmilis]

Adjective

similis (neuter simile, comparative similior, superlative simillimus, adverb similiter); third-declension two-termination adjective

1. similar

   Synonym: aequālis

   Antonyms: dissimilis, absimilis, inaequālis

2. (takes a dative object) similar to, like, resembling, of the same kind, the same as
   • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 4.253–255:

     [...] hinc tōtō praeceps sē corpore ad undās
     mīsit, avī similis, quae circum lītora, circum
     piscōsōs scopulōs humilīs volat aequora iuxtā.

     [...] then, with his whole body, [Mercury] hurled himself headlong toward the waves, like a seabird, which rounds the shorelines, [and] around the fish-filled crags it flies low near the water.

Declension

Third-declension two-termination adjective.

	singular			plural
	masc./fem.	neuter		masc./fem.	neuter
nominative	similis	simile		similēs	similia
genitive	similis			similium
dative	similī			similibus
accusative	similem	simile		similēs similīs	similia
ablative	similī			similibus
vocative	similis	simile		similēs	similia

Derived terms

• absimilis
• assimilis
• dissimilis
• similitās
• similāris
• simul
• simulō

Descendants

• Inherited:
  • Old French: semble
  • Old Neapolitan: semele
  • Old Occitan: semble
  • Romanian: seamăn
  • Vulgar Latin: *similiāre (see there for further descendants)
• Borrowed:
  • → Catalan: símil
  • → English: simile
  • → Friulian: simil
  • → Italian: simile
  • → Portuguese: símile, símil
  • → Spanish: símil

References

• “similis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “similis”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• similis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book‎^[1], London: Macmillan and Co.
  • to be probable: veri simile esse
    
  • to employ a comparison, simile: simili uti
    
  • to use the same simile, illustration: ut in eodem simili verser
    
• “similis”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray
• Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “sĭmĭlis”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 11: S–Si, page 628