analog

Etymology

Early 19th century; from French analogue, from Ancient Greek ἀνάλογος (análogos, “proportionate”), from ἀνά (aná, “up to”) + λόγος (lógos, “ratio”).

adj

1. (of a device or system) In which the value of a data item (such as time) is represented by a continuous(ly) variable physical quantity that can be measured (such as the shadow of a sundial).
   an analog watch
2. Not relating to, or pre-dating, digital technology such as computers and the Internet; relating to real life.
   an analog (paper) map
   But for these digital natives, the stubborn analog wonders of skin, handshakes, hugs, bread and wine, faces, names and spontaneous conversation is part of what intrigued them and kept them going to church. 2022-01-30, Tish Harrison Warren, “Why Churches Should Drop Their Online Services”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
   Not that I expect my children’s generation to be shocked by it all. Unlike my analog upbringing, they were born into a digital world. 2021-11-18, Kara Swisher, “The Prescience of 1970’s ‘Future Shock’”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
   But what, exactly, is a platform? In the analog world, a platform is where you catch a train or launch a rocket or give a speech — somewhere you go to do something else. 2021-09-15, Reeves Wiedeman, “Why Does Every Company Now Want to Be a Platform?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

noun

1. (countable) Something that bears an analogy to something else.
2. (countable, biology) An organ or structure that is similar in function to one in another kind of organism but is of dissimilar evolutionary origin.
   See also: convergent evolution
3. (chemistry) A structural derivative of a parent compound that differs from it by only one or a few atoms or substituent groups; (usually, especially) such a molecule that retains most of the same chemical properties.