similitude

noun

Etymology: From Old French similitude, from Latin similitūdō. By surface analysis, similar + -itude.

1. Similarity or resemblance to something else.

   “So am I tossed on the ebbing tide of life—now in sunshine, now in shade—seemingly free, yet, in reality, fettered by the strong, though slight chain of circumstance. For a small sum, any passenger may enter that boat and direct its course; and here again is similitude. I am at the beck of others.”

   “Aemulation was similitude within distance: the sky resembled a face because it had “eyes” — the sun and moon.”

2. A way in which two people or things share similitude.

   “Aemulation was similitude within distance: the sky resembled a face because it had “eyes” — the sun and moon.”

3. Someone or something that closely resembles another; a duplicate or twin.

   “But others declare that no Creature can be made or tranſmuted into a better or vvorſe, or transformed into another ſpecies or ſimilitude, by man, or devill. […] Martinus [i.e., Martin] Delrio the Jeſuit accounts this degeneration of Man into a Beaſt to be an illuſion, deceptive and repugnant to Nature; for, the ſoule of man cannot informe a beaſts body, […]”

   “If I was certain of anything in the world, I was certain that I had seen my brother in the study — nay, more, had touched him, — and equally certain that I had seen his double — his exact similitude, in the garden.”

4. A parable or allegory.

   “And he spake many thynges to them in similitudes, sayinge: Beholde, the sower wentt forth to sowe, And as he sowed, some fell by the wayes side [...].”

5. A similarity: a transformation of Euclidean space that preserves angles and the ratios of distances.