liken

Etymology

From Middle English liknen (“to compare; to be comparable, be equal; to form; to be appropriate”), equivalent to like + -en.

verb

1. (transitive, followed by to or unto) To compare; to state that (something) is like (something else).
   The physics teacher likened the effect of mass on space to an indentation in a sheet of rubber.
   Across Japan, technology companies and private investors are racing to install devices that until recently they had little interest in: solar panels. Massive solar parks are popping up as part of a rapid build-up that one developer likened to an "explosion." 2013-06-21, Chico Harlan, “Japan pockets the subsidy …”, in The Guardian Weekly, volume 189, number 2, page 30