SIMILARITY

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does similarity mean? 

• SIMILARITY (noun)
  The noun SIMILARITY has 2 senses:

1. the quality of being similar

2. a Gestalt principle of organization holding that (other things being equal) parts of a stimulus field that are similar to each other tend to be perceived as belonging together as a unit

  Familiarity information: SIMILARITY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• SIMILARITY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The quality of being similar

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("similarity" is a kind of...):

sameness (the quality of being alike)

Attribute:

similar (marked by correspondence or resemblance)

dissimilar (not similar)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "similarity"):

approximation (the quality of coming near to identity (especially close in quantity))

homogeny ((biology) similarity because of common evolution)

homology (the quality of being similar or corresponding in position or value or structure or function)

homomorphism; homomorphy (similarity of form)

isomorphism; isomorphy ((biology) similarity or identity of form or shape or structure)

alikeness; likeness; similitude (similarity in appearance or character or nature between persons or things)

correspondence; parallelism (similarity by virtue of corresponding)

uniformity; uniformness (the quality of lacking diversity or variation (even to the point of boredom))

approach (a close approximation)

sort (an approximate definition or example)

analog; analogue; parallel (something having the property of being analogous to something else)

Antonym:

dissimilarity (the quality of being dissimilar)

Derivation:

similar (resembling or similar; having the same or some of the same characteristics; often used in combination)

similar (having the same or similar characteristics)

similar (capable of replacing or changing places with something else; permitting mutual substitution without loss of function or suitability)

similar (marked by correspondence or resemblance)

similar ((of words) expressing closely related meanings)

Sense 2

Meaning:

A Gestalt principle of organization holding that (other things being equal) parts of a stimulus field that are similar to each other tend to be perceived as belonging together as a unit

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

law of similarity; similarity

Hypernyms ("similarity" is a kind of...):

Gestalt law of organization; Gestalt principle of organization (a principle of Gestalt psychology that identifies factors leading to particular forms of perceptual organization)

 Context examples 

Overall, the ADRBK2 enzyme has 85% amino acid similarity with ADRBK1, with the protein kinase Catalytic Domain Having 95% Similarity.

(Beta-Adrenergic Receptor Kinase 2, NCI Thesaurus)

BLYM contains regions of similarity to the amino terminal region of transferrins.

(BLYM Oncoprotein, NCI Thesaurus)

It has strong similarity to murine Bmp6, signals through receptor serine/threonine kinases, and is involved in endochondral bone formation.

(Bone Morphogenetic Protein 6, NCI Thesaurus/LocusLink)

BMP7 signals through receptor serine/threonine kinases and has very strong similarity to murine Bmp7.

(Bone Morphogenetic Protein 7, NCI Thesaurus)

A sequence search method designed to find regions of similarity between biological sequences.

(Basic Local Alignment Search Tool, NCI Thesaurus)

ATPase, Aminophospholipid Transporter-Like, Class I, Type 8A, Member 2, encoded by the ATP8A2 gene, is an integral membrane protein has similarity to P-type ATPases, proteins that drive uphill transport of ions across membranes.

(ATPase, Aminophospholipid Transporter-Like, Class I, Type 8A, Member 2, NCI Thesaurus)

To do this they looked at the similarities between the signals received at different locations after major earthquakes.

(Earth's Core Confirmed to Be Solid After 80 Years of Study, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

While similarities between diabetes and Alzheimer’s have long been suspected, they have been difficult to evaluate, since insulin is not needed for glucose to enter the brain or to get into neurons.

(Higher brain glucose levels may mean more severe Alzheimer’s, National Institutes of Health)

Although OGLE-2016-BLG-1195Lb is about the same mass as Earth, and the same distance from its host star as our planet is from our sun, the similarities may end there.

('Iceball' Planet Discovered Through Microlensing, NASA)

An antineoplastic agent with a structural similarity to a natural substance that can replace that substance in a normal biochemical pathway and interfere with the normal metabolic processes of cells.

(Antimetabolite, NCI Thesaurus)