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What is "comparative"

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
comparative
I.adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a relative/comparative lack of sth
▪ There is a relative lack of research into this medical condition.
comparative luxury (=comfortable when compared to other things)
▪ We were glad to return to the comparative luxury of our tent away from the rain.
relative/comparative obscurity (=not known about compared to other things that are better known)
▪ He brought the team from relative obscurity to fame.
the relative/comparative merits of sth (=the good qualities of something as compared to something else)
▪ She is an expert in the relative merits of spa waters.
with comparative/relative ease (=seeming easy, especially considering how difficult something is)
▪ Most modern laptops can store large amounts of data with comparative ease.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ NOUN
advantage
▪ Given the existence of resource mobility in a single country, the exploitation of comparative advantage is possible.
▪ The classical theory of comparative advantage is often taught as if everyone benefits from trade.
▪ A trend had already been set in textiles, where the comparative advantage of cheap labour was becoming important.
▪ The alternative case where free entry restores standard comparative advantage is when factor endowments are sufficiently similar to permit factor price equalization.
▪ In Figure 2.1 the case of reaping comparative advantage is examined.
▪ In the classical theory of comparative advantage, there is no role for government in determining the location of industry.
▪ However, this solution prevents the group achieving any gains from assigning people to tasks according to their comparative advantage.
▪ In the nineteenth and for most of the twentieth century, the theory of comparative advantage explained what needed to be explained.
analysis
▪ Nevertheless an independent review emerged with a comparative analysis of a complex field.
▪ The former agent did a comparative analysis of the manifesto and five pages of letters and essays authored by Theodore.
▪ It may be possible to apply all of these to groups who contrast in some way, so facilitating a comparative analysis.
▪ Their comparative analysis tests the linear and non-linear forms of the relationship between income inequality and political violence.
▪ Thus detailed comparative analysis of different religions is possible.
▪ A comparative analysis of course documents made the extent and systematic nature of the changes quite evident.
▪ This makes any comparative analysis of data recorded at different times or using different aggregation units problematical.
▪ Cases are those countries that feature in the comparative analysis.
anatomy
▪ As well as medical preparations, it contained a great deal of comparative anatomy, including fossils.
▪ Works on comparative anatomy continued this tradition, though by the nineteenth century there was more caution about using mankind.
▪ Owen was also put in charge of the College's museum, an important source of specimens for comparative anatomy.
▪ But the early debates were conducted almost entirely in terms of comparative anatomy and paleontology.
approach
▪ Despite the above advantages, the comparative approach may be said to have three main failings.
▪ Because of our comparative approach, we must regretfully bypass interesting problems within the individual countries.
▪ Helminth communities of amphibians and reptiles: comparative approaches to understanding patters and processes - John M Aho.
▪ A comparative approach will identify marketing factors which distinguish successful companies from less successful ones.
▪ The comparative approach allows two major tasks to be carried out.
▪ The comparative approach, like economic analysis, has both strengths and weaknesses.
costs
▪ Does my hon. Friend know the comparative costs involved?
▪ Price them and prepare a table to show comparative costs. 3.
▪ Has his party analysed those comparative costs?
▪ The basis for international trade between countries can be explained in terms of the economist David Ricardo's theory of comparative costs.
▪ First, it is possible that a too narrow definition of comparative costs would be used.
▪ Economic evaluation and the calculation of comparative costs per quality-adjusted life-year gained is one way of providing such an explanation.
data
▪ Significance levels for comparative data were determined by the Wilcoxon signed rank test.
▪ The most reliable of these comparative data measure voting in national elections.
▪ Rather few comparative data are available from which to assess recent status changes, but these appear to have been marked.
▪ This earlier project provides a comparative data base which will be used in assessing the impact of new guidelines.
ease
▪ We stripped a combination of primer and varnish from a plywood screen with comparative ease.
▪ Her life, comparative ease from the cradle up; she had to thank her father.
▪ Gooch was 57, Stewart 38, and the new-ball attack had been weathered with comparative ease.
▪ He is following a correspondence course in gardening for adults with comparative ease.
figures
▪ I do not want the comparative figures to be distorted.
▪ Whichever option societies take, comparative figures for the new disclosures will be required.
▪ Comparative figures Prior year comparative figures have been restated to conform to the current year's presentation where appropriate.
▪ Inspection of the comparative figures is both instructive and startling.
▪ The comparative figures for 1991 were 25 and 19 respectively.
▪ The presentation of comparative figures has been adjusted to reflect the new standard.
▪ Where changes in presentation are made, appropriate adjustments are made to comparative figures.
freedom
▪ I enjoyed this comparative freedom and spent a lot of time pacing around the cell.
▪ The comparative freedom that the close presence of grandparents afforded wives contributed significantly to the high standard of farming seen.
lack
▪ My comparative lack of basic talent came home to me on the practice ground before the first round of the Amateur.
literature
▪ Historians have approached these areas, as have social scientists, anthropologists, psychiatrists, and some students of comparative literature.
▪ An excellent article on selection bias using real examples from the comparative literature.
▪ Throughout the chapters, concrete examples from the comparative literature were used to demonstrate these points.
▪ The repeated empirical verification of the relationship, however, leads to two conclusions in the comparative literature.
method
▪ The comparative method is not really a term referring to a fixed procedure that is to be followed rigidly.
▪ This study stands as one of the earliest and most comprehensive analyses of this research question using this particular comparative method.
▪ They were especially interested in Darwin's use of the comparative method.
▪ The details of the comparative method are a little sketchy, but she claims that Melanesian practice is very similar.
▪ The comparative method discloses a number of key issues which any legislation guaranteeing equal employment rights for disabled workers must address.
▪ In sum, the different comparative methods should be seen as complements to one another.
▪ An excellent review of comparative methods.
politics
▪ Briefing box 1.1 Making classifications: Aristotle and Finer Description and classification are the building blocks of comparative politics.
▪ All three countries represent a state of affairs that defies predominant theories in comparative politics.
▪ The discussion now turns to key examples from comparative politics that have examined these important questions.
▪ This book provides a good discussion of establishing functional equivalence in comparative politics.
▪ What then are the main conclusions about comparative politics that can be drawn from this cursory comparison to natural science?
▪ The comparative politics literature is rich with examples of these different levels of analysis.
▪ The fourth section summarizes these reasons, justifications, and terms for a science of comparative politics.
▪ Third, a large portion of published literature in comparative politics uses quantitative analysis.
purpose
▪ For comparative purposes, the team also took a similar set of readings on human walkers.
▪ Thus for comparative purposes the Category B gas-coal scenario should be used.
▪ The Theogonist's leadership value is not therefore used, but has been included for comparative purposes.
▪ For comparative purposes, Charles Barkley made $ 4. 1 million in salary and $ 3 million in endorsements last year.
▪ As demonstrated, a percentage perannum return can be calculated for comparative purposes with other types of financial investment.
▪ This outline is especially pertinent for comparative purposes.
▪ Should a leadership value ever be required for comparative purposes then use the value as 10.
religion
▪ The second is to encourage the study of comparative religion, philosophy and science.
▪ You study the history of religions, comparative religion, the scriptures of the world, maybe the psychology of religion.
▪ He buried himself in books on comparative religion, and began publishing scholarly tracts and books about the goddess.
▪ Students of comparative religion, on the other hand, have evidenced somewhat more interest in tongue speaking.
research
▪ All have considerable experience of international comparative research.
▪ These questions are especially germane in comparative research, where the analyst attempts to specify how the structure-function patterns vary between states.
▪ Aside from these two ` laws' of political science, the bulk of comparative research eschews making such strong claims.
▪ The Bureau's comparative research programme comprises a continuing analysis of model properties and forecast performance.
▪ Notes 1 A corollary branch of comparative research inverts the relationship to examine whether democracies achieve better levels of economic development.
safety
▪ He was ridden down before he could reach the comparative safety of his parsonage at Yateley.
▪ I saluted him and then made my way back to the farmyard and the comparative safety of the farm buildings.
▪ Forster slithered to Delaney and got a grip, pulling him back to comparative safety.
▪ New ideas can be bounced around in the comparative safety of the governors' meeting and reactions gauged.
▪ Had she locked herself in a place of comparative safety?
▪ From a place of comparative safety she was able to observe as Joe pushed his way onward, unaware of her move.
▪ She shivered, and was glad to gain the comparative safety of the open area in the centre.
▪ Just as they reached the top and comparative safety, Lilley yelled for everyone to bale out.
study
▪ Purely descriptive studies serve as the raw data for those comparative studies that aspire to higher levels of explanation.
▪ She said a comparative study of about 15, 000 randomly selected Gulf War veterans is planned for the near future.
▪ The generality of conclusions from well controlled experiments can often be tested by comparative studies.
▪ All the topics covered would have to be placed in context but there would be no, say, comparative studies.
▪ Overall, the statistical results confirm the relationship between economic development and democracy established by the comparative studies in the earlier phase.
▪ There are many important questions which emerge in relation to comparative study which employs place or locality as the frame of reference and explanation.
▪ Space and resources preclude an exhaustive or even an extensive comparative study in this work.
work
▪ We've done lots of comparative work, case-control studies ... soc: Oh dear!
▪ Finally, Chapter 8 examines the comparative work on democratic institutions and democratic performance.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ During the bombings, families sheltered in the comparative safety of the underground rail stations.
▪ Fresh fruit and vegetables have become a comparative rarity in the region.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Comparative figures Prior year comparative figures have been restated to conform to the current year's presentation where appropriate.
▪ Coming from a few rooms in Creek Lane, the Sisters may have wondered at the comparative spaciousness of their new surroundings.
▪ Finally, Chapter 8 examines the comparative work on democratic institutions and democratic performance.
▪ For comparative purposes, the team also took a similar set of readings on human walkers.
▪ He was ridden down before he could reach the comparative safety of his parsonage at Yateley.
▪ The comparative weight of the evidence is, however, peculiarly the function of the trial judge who has heard the witnesses.
▪ The former agent did a comparative analysis of the manifesto and five pages of letters and essays authored by Theodore.
▪ Therefore they shed light on the comparative institutional questions with which we are concerned.
II.noun
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Again, this served to distort the comparatives.
▪ Another section is devoted entirely to grammar drills, including the use of prepositions, comparatives, negatives and verb tenses.
▪ If anything, they served to intensify the boredom by providing a comparative.
▪ The so-called secondary categories consist of almost equally linguistic concepts: negation and opposition, comparatives, modes, and so on.
▪ Through tower building there is a development of vocabulary from the original big and small to more selective comparatives.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Comparative

Comparative \Com*par"a*tive\, n. (Gram.) The comparative degree of adjectives and adverbs; also, the form by which the comparative degree is expressed; as, stronger, wiser, weaker, more stormy, less windy, are all comparatives.

In comparatives is expressed a relation of two; as in superlatives there is a relation of many.
--Angus.

2. An equal; a rival; a compeer. [Obs.]

Gerard ever was His full comparative.
--Beau. & Fl.

3. One who makes comparisons; one who affects wit. [Obs.] ``Every beardless vain comparative.''
--Shak.

Comparative

Comparative \Com*par"a*tive\, a. [L. comparativus: cf. F. comparatif.]

  1. Of or pertaining to comparison. ``The comparative faculty.''
    --Glanvill.

  2. Proceeding from, or by the method of, comparison; as, the comparative sciences; the comparative anatomy.

  3. Estimated by comparison; relative; not positive or absolute, as compared with another thing or state.

    The recurrence of comparative warmth and cold.
    --Whewell.

    The bubble, by reason of its comparative levity to the fluid that incloses it, would necessarily ascend to the top.
    --Bentley.

  4. (Gram.) Expressing a degree greater or less than the positive degree of the quality denoted by an adjective or adverb. The comparative degree is formed from the positive by the use of -er, more, or less; as, brighter, more bright, or less bright.

    Comparative sciences, those which are based on a comprehensive comparison of the range of objects or facts in any branch or department, and which aim to study out and treat of the fundamental laws or systems of relation pervading them; as, comparative anatomy, comparative physiology, comparative philology.

Related phrases:
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
comparative

mid-15c., from Middle French comparatif, from Latin comparativus "pertaining to comparison," from comparat-, past participle stem of comparare (see comparison). Originally grammatical; general sense is from c.1600; meaning "involving different branches of a subject" is from 1670s. Related: Comparatively.

Wiktionary
comparative

a. 1 Of or relating to comparison. 2 Using comparison as a method of study, or founded on something using it. 3 Approximated by comparison; relative. 4 (context obsolete English) comparable; bearing comparison. n. 1 (context grammar English) A construction showing a relative quality, in English usually formed by adding ''more'' or appending ''-er''. For example, the comparative of ''green'' is ''greener''; of ''evil'', ''more evil''. 2 (context grammar English) A word in the '''comparative''' form. 3 (context obsolete English) An equal; a rival; a compeer. 4 (context obsolete English) One who makes comparisons; one who affects wit.

Related phrases:
WordNet
comparative

  1. adj. relating to or based on or involving comparison; "comparative linguistics"

  2. having significance only in relation to something else; "a comparative newcomer"

comparative

n. the comparative form of an adjective; "`better' is the comparative of `good'"

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Comparative

In linguistics, the comparative is a syntactic construction that serves to express a comparison between two (or more) entities or groups of entities in quality, quantity, or degree; it is one of the degrees of comparison, alongside the positive and the superlative. The comparative is signaled in English by the suffix -er or by a word of comparison (as, more, less) and the conjunction- or preposition-like word as or than. The comparative is frequently associated with adjectives and adverbs because these words take the -er suffix or modifying word more or less (e.g., faster, more intelligent, less wasteful); it can also, however, appear when no adjective or adverb is present, for instance with nouns (e.g., more men than women). The syntax of comparative constructions is poorly understood due to the complexity of the data. In particular, the comparative frequently occurs with independent mechanisms of syntax such as coordination and forms of ellipsis ( gapping, pseudogapping, null complement anaphora, stripping, verb phrase ellipsis). The interaction of the various mechanisms complicates the analysis. Most if not all languages have some means of forming the comparative, although these means can vary significantly from one language to the next.

Comparative (disambiguation)

A comparative is a form of an adjective or adverb indicating greater degree.

Comparative may also refer to:

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "comparative".

The men appear to have been chiefly colonial rebels, and not Boers of the backveld, and to that happy chance it may be that the comparative harmlessness of their fire was due.

The comparative contentment of the great Sheikh at this moment, her silence, and the sudden departure of Fakredeen, induced Baroni to believe that there was yet something on the cards, and, being of a sanguine disposition, he sincerely encouraged his master, who, however, did not appear to be very desponding.

Here, for over seventeen hundred years, the descendants of these families have lived in comparative peace and security, but in an almost constant state of war with Castra Sanguinarius.

And yet the former history continues to be studied side by side with the laws of statistics, geography, political economy, comparative philology, and geology, which directly contradict its assumptions.

But nowhere else, unless it be later in the nineteenth century among Darwinian anthropologists and phrenologists, was it made the basis of a scientific subject matter as it was in comparative linguistics or philology.

A few weeks ago, it was announced in the public press, that in one of the departments of Columbia University in New York, a series of experiments were being made to determine, if possible, the comparative food value of two articles in general use.

But in Germany most human faults and follies sink into comparative insignificance beside the enormity of walking on the grass.

Such a being would in theory stand at the head of the three orders of Gods mentioned by Herodotus, these being regarded as arbitrary classifications of similar or equal beings, arranged in successive emanations, according to an estimate of their comparative dignity.

A hundred years later de Guignes, speaking before the members of the Paris Academy of Inscriptions, proclaimed a theory, based on comparative hieroglyphology, that the Chinese were Egyptian colonists.

Red Sox cap on the visiting Syrian Satellite pro, and the Syrian Satellite pro sits with most of the prorec-tors, looking confused, his shoulder taped up with a heatable compress, being polite about the comparative authenticity of Mrs.

Shell from the comparative anonymity of the orbiting station, he had reduced the number of suitable hubs he might safely visit ID three.

The investigations of the writer in this direction, while in some respects traveling the same road followed by others, diverged from them and has been more in the nature of a comparative analytical and microscopic examination of ancient with ancient and modern with modern documents in connection with numerous chemical experiments, the manufacture of hundreds of inks and the study of their time and other phenomena.

The means of reproducing and distributing copies of the many ancient maps which are scattered among the various libraries of Europe were then very imperfect, and the science of Comparative Cartography, of which the importance is now well recognised, was in its infancy.

They had elaborately prepared tabs and chronologies and a comparative analysis of notes, memos and testimony.

The People had nothing like them, and the lack of any sort of comparative meterstick bothered him.