likening

Likening is the act of making a likeness or comparison between two or more things, typically in order to highlight a similarity. As a noun, likening refers to the process; as a present participle, it appears in phrases such as “likening X to Y.” The word derives from liken, related to like, and has long been used to discuss how one thing is made to resemble another.

In rhetoric and literature, likening is a broad term for techniques that reveal or emphasize similarities between otherwise different objects, ideas, or events. It overlaps with and can be realized through several figures of speech, including simile (explicit comparisons using like or as), metaphor (suggesting identity between two things), and analogy (an extended or structured comparison of relationships). Writers and speakers employ likening to illuminate concepts, make arguments more memorable, or frame complex topics in familiar terms.

Examples of likening include describing a team as a well‑oiled machine, or a difficult journey as a long road with many obstacles, thereby shaping readers’ or listeners’ understanding through familiar imagery. In religious, political, or scientific discourse, likening can be a deliberate rhetorical strategy to persuade or to render abstract ideas concrete. It can also raise interpretive questions when the implied similarities are contested or challenged.

Related concepts include analogy, metaphor, and simile. See also rhetorical devices and figurative language.