likness

Likeness refers to the degree to which one person or thing resembles another. This resemblance can be physical, as in a portrait capturing the likeness of a sitter, or it can extend to other attributes such as personality, behavior, or artistic style. In art, achieving a strong likeness is often a primary goal, particularly in portraiture, where the artist strives to represent the subject accurately. The concept of likeness also appears in legal contexts, such as in the right of publicity, which protects individuals from the unauthorized commercial use of their likeness. In everyday language, we often speak of a child having a likeness to a parent, indicating shared physical features or mannerisms. The perception of likeness can be subjective and influenced by various factors, including familiarity and context. While a visual likeness is often straightforward to assess, other forms of resemblance may be more open to interpretation. The term can also be used metaphorically, describing how one situation or event bears a likeness to another.