Adjective

comparable (comparative more comparable, superlative most comparable)

1. Able to be compared (to); similar (to).

   An elephant is comparable in size to a double-decker bus.

   You can't say that robbing a bank is like pickpocketing—the two are just not comparable.

2. (mathematics) Constituting a pair in a particular partial order.

   Six and forty-two are comparable in the divides order, but six and nine are not.

3. (grammar) Said of an adjective that can take the three degrees of comparison.

   "Big" is a comparable adjective, since it can take the forms "bigger" and "biggest"; but "unique" is not comparable, except in disputed, but common, usage.

Related terms

• incomparable
• comparability
• comparableness

Noun

comparable (plural comparables)

1. Something suitable for comparison
   • 2009 January 2, Fred A. Bernstein, “Catskill Home Prices: How Low Will They Go?”, New York Times:

     And the appraiser said he couldn't come up with comparables, because there hadn't been any sales nearby in several months.

French

Comparable

Comparable may refer to:

• Comparability, in mathematics
• Comparative, in grammar, a word that denotes the degree by which an entity has a property greater or less in extent than another