WHAT IS SIMILE?
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, “Simile is a figure of speech comparing two unlike things that is often introduced by like or as (as in cheeks like roses)”.
Simile comes from the Latin word similis (meaning “similar, like”)
Aristotle coined the term "imago" to describe what we would call a simile. In Aristotle's "Rhetoric," he defined imago as the practice of describing something through a comparison to something else.
Examples:
“English poet William Wordsworth wrote the simile “I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high o’er vales and hills” in his 1807 poem “Daffodils.”
He runs as fast as lightning.
She’s as sweet as honey.
You sing like an angel.
Simile vs Metaphor
Similes and metaphors are both types of comparison and forms of figurative language. A simile is a type of metaphor, but there is a key difference between these literary terms. A simile compares two unrelated things using the words “like” or “as.” A metaphor, on the other hand, makes a direct comparison for rhetorical effect.
“She's as fierce as a tiger” is a simile, but “She's a tiger when she's angry” is a metaphor.
