Ressemblance

Resemblance, known in French as ressemblance, denotes the quality of being alike in certain respects. It covers likeness in appearance, features, function, or character, and is used to describe how closely two objects, persons, or ideas resemble one another.

The term derives from the French verb ressembler, meaning to resemble, which in turn traces to Latin similis, meaning like or similar.

In linguistics and cognitive science, resemblance is used to compare phonetic, morphological, semantic, or conceptual structures. In biology and medicine, phenotypic resemblance refers to observable similarity between organisms, while genetic resemblance concerns shared DNA sequences or hereditary traits.

In art, portraiture, and literature, resemblance is a central notion when judging likeness between a representation and its subject, or when exploring allusive or mimetic connections between works. In law and philosophy, resemblance can influence debates on identity, predication, and classification, particularly when criteria for similarity are contested.

Beyond qualitative judgment, researchers and practitioners use quantitative similarity measures to assess resemblance. These include geometric or statistical measures such as Euclidean distance, cosine similarity, Jaccard index, and other feature-based comparisons, depending on the data type.

Resemblance is often partial and context-dependent, affected by perceptual biases, cultural conventions, and the purpose of comparison. It is a flexible concept that supports categorization, recognition, and interpretation across disciplines.

See also: likeness, similarity.