Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (n.) The act of comparing; an examination of two or more objects with the view of discovering the resemblances or differences; relative estimate.

2. (n.) The state of being compared; a relative estimate; also, a state, quality, or relation, admitting of being compared; as, to bring a thing into comparison with another; there is no comparison between them.

3. (n.) That to which, or with which, a thing is compared, as being equal or like; illustration; similitude.

4. (n.) The modification, by inflection or otherwise, which the adjective and adverb undergo to denote degrees of quality or quantity; as, little, less, least, are examples of comparison.

5. (n.) A figure by which one person or thing is compared to another, or the two are considered with regard to some property or quality, which is common to them both; e.g., the lake sparkled like a jewel.

6. (n.) The faculty of the reflective group which is supposed to perceive resemblances and contrasts.

7. (v. t.) To compare.