simile

Home > ... > Literature and the Arts > Language, Linguistics, and Literary Terms > Literature: General > ...

simile

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

simile [Lat.,=likeness], in rhetoric, a figure of speech in which an object is explicitly compared to another object. Robert Burns's poem "A Red Red Rose" contains two straightforward similes:

My love is like a red, red rose
  That's newly sprung in June:
My love is like the melody
  That's sweetly played in tune.
The epic, or Homeric, simile is an elaborate, formal, and sustained simile derived from those of Homer.

Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1E1-simile" title="Facts and information about simile">simile</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

"simile." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. 14 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"simile." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Encyclopedia.com. (November 14, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-simile.html

"simile." The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2008. Retrieved November 14, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-simile.html

Learn more about citation styles

simile

The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music | 1996 | | © The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music 1996, originally published by Oxford University Press 1996. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

simile, simili (It.). The same. Composer's direction in score to indicate that phrase, etc., is to be perf. in same manner as parallel preceding phrase, thus avoiding copying expression marks at each repetition.

Hide all research tools
Print this article Print all entries for this topic Cite this article Link to this article
Link to this article

CloseClose

Create a link to this page

Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:

<a href="http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/.aspx#1O76-simile" title="Facts and information about simile">simile</a>

Add this article to Del.icio.usBookmark this article on DiigoShare this article on FacebookSubmit this article to RedditGive this article a thumbs-up on StumbleUpon
Show all research tools

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

  • MLA
  • Chicago
  • APA

MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "simile." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 14 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "simile." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (November 14, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-simile.html

MICHAEL KENNEDY and JOYCE BOURNE. "simile." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Music. 1996. Retrieved November 14, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O76-simile.html

Learn more about citation styles

Free newspaper and magazine articles

Free Article House of Shadows. Home of Simile.(POEMS)(Poem)
Magazine article from: Poetry; 10/1/2006
Free Article Simile Software Releases Simile Media Server.
Business Wire; 9/27/2001
Free Article Cheap similes make for lazy journalism. (Words Images).(taking potshots at celebrities)(Editorial)
Magazine article from: USA Today (Magazine); 3/1/2003

Facts and information from other sites

Related articles from newspapers, magazines, and more

Pre-facing simile vehicles in Dante Gabriel Rossetti's sonnets.(Critical essay)
Magazine article from: Style; 12/22/2005; ; 700+ words ; ...argues, but between "illustrative simile, and modeling simile or metaphor." It is the latter that...in a modeling than in an illustrative simile. The most effective and original modeling similes, as Eva Kittay explains, are those...
"So stretched out huge in length": reading the extended simile.
Magazine article from: Style; 9/22/2001; ; 700+ words ; ...study of the extended simile may offer some insights...trope and genre. Homeric similes often interrupt a story...which examined the simile in relation to the literal...nature is what makes simile, and not metaphor...matter of implication, similes appear in a limited number...
And now, similes as graceful as a sculpted sentence
Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times; 6/16/1991; ; 700+ words ; ...have been examining similes, trying to analyze...winners in our Grand Simile Contest of 1991...combination of metaphor and simile that won Best of...more than 10,000 similes. The "graceful...at the scores of similes that were based upon...Every word of a simile has to be in the...
Stormy weather!(Skill: Use Similes and Metaphors)(Brief article)
Magazine article from: WR News, Senior Edition (including Science Spin); 3/16/2007; 700+ words ; ...You might want to use similes and metaphors to get your point across. A simile compares two things using...statement. Examples: Simile The yard looked like...witnessed. Be sure to use similes and metaphors to make...descriptive. Answer Key 1. simile, 2. metaphor, 3...
Similes as slick as a watermelon seed
Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times; 7/9/2000; ; 700+ words ; ...Today we are talking similes. The good ones combine...Take apart an effective simile, and you won't find...from the page of student similes: "Long separated by...editing would save that simile, but it serves to make the point. Keep your similes tight, and keep them...
Winning Similes Keen As a Sharpened Eye
Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times; 12/18/1994; ; 700+ words ; ...winners in the Great Simile Contest of 1994. In Section One, we sought similes for something having...judge this year's Great Simile Contest I set aside the...years. They knew a good simile when they hit one. Their...along - that the best similes come from keen observation...
A simile is the explicit comp ...
Newspaper article from: The Washington Post; 11/9/2003; ; 700+ words ; ...compression. By contrast, the simile is a form of analogical...digressive impulse in similes that keeps extending...Breton). All good similes depend upon a certain...being compared. The simile asserts a likeness between...Pablo Neruda thinking in similes in his magisterial early...
As Forlorn as a Mountain of Also-Ran Similes
Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times; 11/7/1993; ; 700+ words ; The Great Simile Contest of 1993...contest sought similes for "slender...good, but the simile lacked oomph...10 stock"? Similes should have no...do not a good simile make. Most of the also-ran similes suffered for want...
Similes that are `as serene as a snowman's smile'
Newspaper article from: Chicago Sun-Times; 6/2/1991; ; 700+ words ; ...in the contest to provide a simile for "serene." The winner...awarded a $25 prize for the best similes for slippery, serene, rough...send in more than 10,000 similes. Entries came from all over...of the elements that make a simile work. A simile should be compact...
Similar similes.(Skill: Use Figurative Language)
Magazine article from: WR News, Senior Edition (including Science Spin); 12/1/2006; 587 words ; Similes are statements that...that best completes the simile. 1. Brian is as smart...that best completes the simile. 11. He is as skinny...a--. 15. Write a simile comparing someone or...include at least three similes.

Pictures from Google Image Search

Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture
Click to see an enlarged picture

For students and teachers!

Encyclopedia.com provides students and teachers facts, information, and biographies from verified, citable sources, including:

Encyclopedia.com provides students and teachers facts, information, and biographies from verified, citable sources, including:

Current simile News: