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Webster 1913 Edition


Resemble

Re-sem′ble

(r?-z?m′b’l)
,
Verb.
T.
[
imp. & p. p.
Resembled
(-b’ld)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Resembling
(-bl?ng)
.]
[F.
ressembler
; pref.
re-
re- +
sembler
to seem, resemble, fr. L.
similare
,
simulare
, to imitate, fr.
similis
like, similar. See
Similar
.]
1.
To be like or similar to; to bear the similitude of, either in appearance or qualities;
as, these brothers
resemble
each other
.
We will
resemble
you in that.
Shakespeare
2.
To liken; to compare; to represent as like.
[Obs.]
The other . . .
He did
resemble
to his lady bright.
Spenser.
3.
To counterfeit; to imitate.
[Obs.]
“They can so well resemble man’s speech.”
Holland.
4.
To cause to imitate or be like.
[R.]
H. Bushnell.

Webster 1828 Edition


Resemble

RESEM'BLE

,
Verb.
T.
s as z. [See similar.]
1.
To have the likeness of; to bear the similitude of something, either in form, figure or qualities. One man may resemble another in features; he may resemble a third person in temper or deportment.
Each one resembled the children of a king. Judges 8.
2.
To liken; to compare; to represent as like something else.
The torrid parts of Africa are resembled to a libbard's skin, the distance of whose spots represents the dispersed situation of the habitations.

Definition 2024


resemble

resemble

See also: resemblé

English

Verb

resemble (third-person singular simple present resembles, present participle resembling, simple past and past participle resembled)

  1. (transitive) To be like or similar to (something); to represent as similar.
    • Shakespeare
      We will resemble you in that.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, “Foreword”, in The China Governess:
      He turned back to the scene before him and the enormous new block of council dwellings. The design was some way after Corbusier but the block was built up on plinths and resembled an Atlantic liner swimming diagonally across the site.
    • 2005, Plato, Sophist. Translation by Lesley Brown. 230b.
      But what you've just described does resemble a person of that kind.
    The twins resemble each other.
  2. (transitive, now rare, archaic) To compare; to regard as similar, to liken.
    • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.x:
      And th'other all yclad in garments light, / Discolour'd like to womanish disguise, / He did resemble to his Ladie bright [...].
  3. (obsolete, transitive)  To counterfeit; to imitate.
    • Holland
      They can so well resemble man's speech.
  4. (obsolete, transitive)  To cause to imitate or be like; to make similar.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of H. Bushnell to this entry?)

Synonyms

Related terms

Translations


Spanish

Verb

resemble

  1. Formal second-person singular (usted) imperative form of resemblar.
  2. First-person singular (yo) present subjunctive form of resemblar.
  3. Formal second-person singular (usted) present subjunctive form of resemblar.
  4. Third-person singular (él, ella, also used with usted?) present subjunctive form of resemblar.