English
compare
Compare comes from Old French comparer, from Latin comparō, from compār ‘equal to another’, from con- + pār ‘equal’.
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEpar1‘equal’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcompar1‘like or equal to another’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomparō1‘to compare; to pair’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400comparer1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500comparen1‘to compare’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590compare1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English compare
- Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto IV: “To fill his bags, and richesse to compare.”.
Lineage
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEparWiktionary, English compare‘equal’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomparWiktionary, English compare‘like or equal to another’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcomparōWiktionary, English compare‘to compare; to pair’
- Old Frenchc. 842–1400comparerWiktionary, English compare
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500comparenWiktionary, English compare‘to compare’
- Englishearliest quotation 1590compareWiktionary, English compare. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1590, Edmund Spenser, Book I, Canto IV: “To fill his bags, and richesse to compare.”
Word family
English words that share an ancestor with compare, grouped by the ancestor they share, most familiar first.
through Proto-Indo-European *perh₂- ‘to exchange, sell’
- pornography ← pornographie ← πορνογράφος ← πόρνη ← *pórnē
- peerless ← perles ← per ← per ← pār
through Latin par ‘equal’
11 more relatives in the full family tree
No ads, ever.
Explore everything descended from par →
No ads, ever. This is how the app stays alive.
Become a founding member, $29 onceWear this word, $32Support the app
Today it means
verb To assess the similarities and differences between two or more things [“to compare X with Y”]. Having made the comparison of X with Y, one might have found it similar to Y or different from Y.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “compare”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.
Etymograph / Latin par / compare