resemblance

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English resemblaunce, also resemblaunse and resemlance,^[2] borrowed from Anglo-Norman resemblaunce, also resemblance,^[3][4][5][6] from the verb resembler (“to be like”) and the suffix -ance.^[4][6][7] Klein instead derives it from the present participle resemblant.^[8] The Anglo-Norman noun is recorded from about 1275, meaning outward appearance, similarity and comparison,^[9] and the Old French one from the 13th century; the modern French form is ressemblance.^[3] The verb is formed from re-, here perhaps intensive, and sembler (“to seem, be like”), from Latin simulō (“to make like, imitate”), from similis (“like”).^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Likeness or similarity in appearance or nature: before 1393, in John Gower's Confessio Amantis,^[3] who used the word eight times;^[10] Etymonline dates it to the late 14th century.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Gower already used the word also for the outward appearance or features of a person or thing, a sense now rare, and for a likeness or image of someone, which lasted until 1859.^[3][2] Chaucer, about 1405, used it for a thing likened to another, a simile or analogy, a sense that died out after 1738.^[3][2] From 1532 it also meant a point or degree of likeness, which is still current.^[3] In the 16th and 17th centuries it could mean a symbol or figure (1548–1776) and an outward show of a quality or feeling (1561–1670).^[3] Johnson (1755) defined it as "likeness; similitude; representation".^[11] Since 1838 biologists have used it for a likeness between species that comes from convergence or mimicry rather than kinship.^[3]

Timeline

• before 1393 – likeness, similarity; outward appearance; an image, a likeness.^[3]
• c. 1405 – a simile or analogy (obsolete by 1738).^[3]
• 1532 – a point or degree of likeness.^[3]
• 1548 – a symbol or figure (obsolete by 1776).^[3]
• 1603 – as a verb, to resemble (obsolete by 1652).^[3]
• 1838 – biology, likeness from convergence or mimicry.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. The quality or state of being alike; likeness or similarity in appearance or nature: The cousins bear a strong resemblance to each other.^[12][6][3]
2. A point or degree of likeness: There are few resemblances between the two plans.^[12][3]
3. (biology) Similarity between organisms of different species that comes from convergence or mimicry rather than relationship.^[3]
4. (obsolete, 1393–1859) A representation or image of a person or thing.^[3][2][6]
5. (obsolete, 1405–1738) A simile or analogy; a comparison.^[3][2][6]

Word family

• nonresemblance

Related words

• semblance
• resemble
• similar
• simulate
• dissemble

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ a b c d Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ a b c d e Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
9. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
10. ^ Benson, Larry D., Glossarial Concordance to Middle English (Chaucer, Gower), Johns Hopkins University, github.com/jhu-digital-manuscripts/gcme
11. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
12. ^ a b Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins