Com-păr'i-son1, n.
(-sun, or -sn), n. [Fr. comparaison, Pr. comparaso, comparatio, Sp. comparacion, It. comparazione, Lat. comparatio. See COMPARE.]
Sense 1. The act of considering the relations between persons or things, especially with the view of discovering their resemblance or difference; a comparative estimate of things.
If we rightly estimate what we call good and evil, we shall find it lies much in comparison. Locke.
The miracles of our Lord and those of the Old Testament afford many interesting points of comparison. Trench.
Sense 2. (Gram.) The inflection of an adjective or adverb in its several degrees of signification; as, strong, stronger, strongest; soon, sooner, soonest; glorious, more glorious, most glorious.
Sense 3. (Rhet.) A figure by which two things are considered with regard to some property or quality, which is common to them both.
Comparison of hands (Law), a mode of proving or disproving a disputed signature by comparing it with another proved to be genuine, in order to ascertain whether both were written by the same person. Bouvier. Burrill.