compare

Etymology

From Middle English comparen, from Old French comparer, from Latin comparare (“to prepare, procure”), from compar (“like or equal to another”), from com- + par (“equal”). Displaced native Old English metan (“to compare,” also “to measure”).

verb

1. (transitive) 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.
   Compare the tiger's coloration with that of the zebra.
   You can't compare my problems and yours.
   Sophia broke down here. Even at this moment she was subconsciously comparing her rendering of the part of the forlorn bride with Miss Marie Lohr's. 1922, Ben Travers, chapter 6, in A Cuckoo in the Nest
   Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola. A recent study explored the ecological variables that may contribute to bats’ propensity to harbor such zoonotic diseases by comparing them with another order of common reservoir hosts: rodents. 2013 May-June, Katie L. Burke, “In the News”, in American Scientist, volume 101, number 3, page 193
2. (transitive) To declare two things to be similar in some respect ["to compare X to Y"].
   Astronomers have compared comets to dirty snowballs.
   And wordy attacks against slavery drew sneers from observers which were not altogether undeserved. The authors were compared to doctors who offered to a patient nothing more than invectives against the disease which consumed him. 1963, C.L.R. James, The Black Jacobins, 2nd Revised edition, page 24
3. (transitive, grammar) To form the three degrees of comparison of (an adjective).
   We compare "good" as "good", "better", "best".
4. (intransitive) To be similar (often used in the negative).
   A sapling and a fully-grown oak tree do not compare.
5. (obsolete) To get; to obtain.

noun

1. (uncountable) Comparison.
   Their small galleys may not hold compare with our tall ships. a. 1687, Edmund Waller, To my Worth Friend Sir Thomas Higgons
2. (countable, programming) An instruction or command that compares two values or states.
   […] including addition and subtraction, memory operations, compares, shifts, logic operations, and condition operations. 1998, International Conference on Computer Design: Proceedings, IEEE, page 490
   2013, Paolo Bruni, Carlos Alberto Gomes da Silva Junior, Craig McKellar, Managing DB2 for z/OS Utilities with DB2 Tools Solution Packs It is always advisable to run a compare between your source and target environments. This should highlight whether there are differences in the lengths of VARCHARs and then the differences can be corrected before you clone.
3. (uncountable, obsolete) Illustration by comparison; simile.