Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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ANALOGY

Similarity without identity, or any imperfect likeness between two or more beings or things that are compared. The two basic forms are the analogy of attribution and of proportionality. In the analogy of attribution some property that belongs to one being is attributed to other beings because of a real or apparent connection between them, as health in a living body and health in the climate. In the analogy of proportionality there is a resemblance between things because of a complex set of relations (proportions) between them, as goodness in food and goodness in an act of kindness. (Etym. Latin analogia, comparative likeness; from Greek analogia, equality of ratios.)