simblot 
a whitened or blackened cord stretched, also 
lash, whip, < OF. cenglc, senglc, F. snuale, < L. 
eiiit/idum, a girdle: see eini/le, shingle*.] The 
harness of a weavers' draw-loom. Simiinnidx. 
simbolee-oil (sim'bo-le-oil), . See Murrat/n. 
Simenchelyidae(si-rneng-ke-li'i-de), .;>/. [NL.. 
< ffimenelie/ys + -idee.} A family of eels, repre- 
sented by the genus Simenclielys ; the pug-nosed 
eels. They are deep-sea forms parasitic upon other fishes. 
The form is shorter and more robust than in the common 
eels, but the scales are distributed in the same manner. 
The head ends in a short and blunt snout, and the lower 
jaw is deep and strong. The teeth are blunt, incisor-like, 
and in one row on the edge of the jaws. Only one species 
is known, 5. panuUieut, which is found in deep water, 
;tnd is prone to attack fishes that have been hooked, espe- 
cially the halibut, into whose flesh it burrows. It is very 
abundant on the banks south of Newfoundland. 
Simenchelys (si-meng'ke-lis), n. [NL., < Gr. 
niftof , snub-nosed, flat-nosed, + h/x? "f , fyxf^Ci 
an eel.] The representative genus of Simen- 
chelyidse, having scales like those of the com- 
Pug-noseU Eel (Sintencheljs farasiticus) 
mon eel, the osteological characters of the con- 
gers, and the snout blunt and rounded (whence 
the name). S. parasiticns, the only species, is 
known as the pu</-nosed or snub-nosed eel 
Simeonite (sim'e-pn-it), n. [< Simeon (see def. 
and iSimfinian) 4- -!te 2 .] 1. A descendant of 
the patriarch Simeon. 2. Eccles., a follower 
of the Eev. Charles Simeon (1759-1836), a 
clergyman of the Church of England at Cam- 
bridge, distinguished for his evangelical views 
and as a leader of the Low-church party ; hence, 
a name sometimes given to Low-churchmen. 
Simeon's degree. See degree. 
Simla (sim'i-a), ti. [NL., < L. ximia, simius, 
an ape, monkey (> It. Simla, tteimia, scimmia, 
an ape).] If. A Linnean genus (1735-66) 
containing the whole of his order Primates, ex- 
cepting the genera Homo, Lemur, and Vesper- 
tilio. 2. Now, the name-giving genus of 
Kimiidee, containing only those apes known as 
orang-ntanx. The common orang is S. mtynut. and no 
other species is established. See mias, pongo, and cut 
under orang-utan. Also called Pithecus and Satyrus. 
3t. A genus of gastropods. Leach; Gray, 1847. 
Simiadae (si-im'a-de), n.j>l. [NL., < Simia + 
-rfa?.] Same as \ Simiidee. 
simial (sim'i-al), n. [< L. ximia, an ape, + 
-fflf.] Same as simian. [Bare.] 
We are aware that there may be vulgar souls who, 
judging from their simial selves, may doubt the conti- 
nence of Scipio. D. Jerrold, St. Giles and St. James, 1. 94. 
simian (sim'i-an), a. and //. [= F. simien = Sp. 
simiano, < NL. ' simianws (cf. ML. simianiis, a de- 
mon), < L. simia, an ape.] I. a. 1. Like an ape 
or monkey, in any sense ; apish ; rhesian ; simi- 
ous: as, simian characters, habits, traits, tricks, 
antics, etc. 2. Technically, of or pertaining 
to the Simiidx or Simiinse; anthropoid or man- 
like, as one of the higher apes: as, simian an- 
cestors. 
II. H. 1. An ape or monkey of uny kind. 
2. An anthropoid ape of the family Simiidee. 
Simiidje (si-mi'i-de), w. pi. [NL., < Simia + 
-idee.] The anthropoid apes ; the highest fam- 
ily of the order Primates and suborder Anthro- 
poidea (excepting Hominidfe), divided into the 
two subfamilies Simiinse and Hylobatinse, the 
former containing the gorilla, chimpanzee, and 
orang, and the latter the gibbons. The form is more 
nearly human than that of any other animal below man. 
The carriage is semi-erect, or capable of becoming so ; the 
arms are much longer than the legs ; the tail is rudimen- 
tary (in the gorilla with fewer vertebra than in man) ; the 
sacrum is large and solid ; the sternum is short and broad, 
with three or four intermediate sternebrte ; and the spinal 
column has a slight sigmoid curve, giving a "small of the 
back " somewhat as in man ; the teeth are thirty-two, with 
the same formula as in man ; and the nose is catarrhine, 
as in the rest of the Old World apes. Also Simiadx. 
Simiinse (sim-i-1'ne), n. pi. [NL., < Simia + 
-.] The higher one of two subfamilies of 
Simiidx, from which the Bijlobatinee or gibbons 
are excluded, and which includes the gorilla, 
chimpanzee, and orang, having a robust form, 
broad haunch-bones, large cerebrum overlap- 
ping the cerebellum, and no ischial callosities. 
The genera are Gorilla, Mimetes (or Antliropo- 
jiitliecus or Troglodytes), and Simia. 
Similar (sim'i-liir), a. and ;. [< OF. (and F.) 
similttire = Sp. Pg. ximilar = It. simHare, < ML. 
"similaris, extended from L. similis, like ; akin 
5636 
lo rimx/, together, Gr. duo, together, and E. 
MI me: see xiimc. From the L. similis are also 
ult. E. simile, similitude, simulate, xintidtaiteoits, 
xrmlilel, xemble'*, assemble, disxemble, resemlile. 
xemliltnii'i; xemh/aiit, nxximilate, dissimilar, di.i- 
siiinilatifin,ete.'\ I. n. 1. Having characteris- 
tics in common; like in form, appearance, 
size, qualities, relations, etc. ; having a more 
or less marked resemblance to each other 
or one another; in some respects identical; 
bearing a resemblance, as to something im- 
plied or specified: as, the general features of 
the two landscapes are similar ; the plans are 
similar. 
\ly present concern is with the commandment to love 
our neighbour, which is a duty second and similar to that 
of the love of God. Waterland, Works, IX. ii. 
A captious question, sir (and yours is one). 
Deserves an answer similar, or none. 
Cowper, Tirocinium, 1. 904. 
The mental interests of men were everywhere similar 
in kind; their chief topics of thought for the most part 
alike. C. E. Xorton, Church-building in Middle Ages, p. 9. 
The dresses of the female slaves are ximilar to those of 
the Egyptian women. 
/: W. Lane, Modern Egyptians, I. 230. 
2f. Homogeneous; of like structure or charac- 
ter throughout. 
Minerals appearing to the eye either to be perfectly 
similar, as metals; or at least to consist but of two or 
three distinct ingredients, as cinnabar. 
Boyle, Works, I. 20U. 
3. [Tr. Gr. o/ioiof.] In</foi.,of the same shape: 
said of two figures which have all their cor- 
responding angles equal, whence it will follow, 
for ordinary Euclidean space, that all their cor- 
responding lengths will be proportional, that 
their corresponding areas will be in the dupli- 
cate ratio of their lengths, and that their corre- 
sponding volumes will be in the triplicate ratio 
of their lengths. In the non-Euclidean systems of 
geometry these consequences are falsified, so that there 
are no similar figures. 
Similar solid figures are such as have their solid angles 
equal, each to each, and are contained by the same num- 
ber of similar planes. Eitflid's Elements, Bk. xi. def. xi. 
4. In I/ioL, alike in some respects; identical to 
some extent. Specifically (a) Having the like struc- 
ture ; of common origin ; homologous (which see). (6) 
Having the like function or use, though of unlike origin ; 
analogous (which see). These two senses are respectively 
the morphological and the physiological application of 
the word to parts or organs of animals and plants. 
5. In music, in the same direction: said of the 
rising and falling of two voice-parts Similar 
arcs. See arci. Similar curves or curvilinear fig- 
ures, those within which similar rectilinear figures can 
in every case be inscribed. Similar foci. *ee focus, :t. 
Similar functions. See function. Similar pencils, 
polygons, ranges, sheafs, those whose elements corre- 
spond so that corresponding distances are proportional. 
Similar quantities. See quantity. 
II. . That which is similar; that which re- 
sembles something else in form, appearance, 
quality, etc.; in the plural, things resembling 
one another. 
If the similan are entitled to the position of apx', the 
dissimilars are not. 
J. Martinmn, Materialism (1874), p. 128. 
All [the Indian names are) more flexible on the tongue 
than their Spanish similars. Scribner's Mag., II. 1*05. 
The law Of Similars, (fl) The law of mental association 
by which similar ideas are connected in the mind and sug- 
gest one another. This kind of association is denied by 
some psychologists, who forget that without it similarity 
would have no possible meaning. When we say that to- 
day's idea is like yesterday's, we can only mean that a 
sense of affinity connects them. The kind of association is 
the essential condition of generalization, (6) The homeo- 
pathic principle of administering drugs. See similia. 
similarity (sim-i-lar'i-ti), w. [= F. similarite 
= Sp. similaridad; as similar + -Hy.~\ 1. The 
quality or condition of being similar ; likeness ; 
perfect, partial, or general resemblance. 
Similarity was defined as the cointension of two con- 
natural relations between states of consciousness which 
are themselves like in kind but commonly unlike in de- 
gree. H. Spencer, Prin. of Psychol., 371. 
Similarity, in compounds, is partial identity. 
W. James, Prin. of Psychol., I. 579. 
2. A point or respect in which things are simi- 
lar. 
It is plain that in finding out the similarities of things 
we analyse. J. Sully, Outlines of Psychol., p. 836. 
Center of similarity. Seecenteri.=Syn. Analogy, cor- 
respondence, parity, parallelism, 
similarly (sim'i-lar-li), adv. In a similar or 
like manner; with resemblance in certain re- 
spects. 
As similarly constituted beings, men have certain rights 
in common. H. Spencer, Prin. of Sociol., 534. 
similaryt (sim'i-la-ri), ti. [< ML. 'similar/it. 
like: see similar.}' Similar; like. [Rare.] 
similitude 
Those more noble parts or eminent branches belonging 
to that Catholick visible Church, which, being ximtiarif or 
partaking of the same nature by the common faith, have 
yet their convenient limits. 
Bp. Gauden, Tears of the Church, p. 25. (fiarim.) 
Rhyming cadences of similary words. Smith. 
simile (sim'i-le), n. [Formerly also siiiiilie, 
simili/; = Sp. siiitil = Pg. simile, a simile, = It. 
ximile, a like, fellow, < L. simile. ;i like tiling, 
neut. of similis (> It. simi/c = Sp. xiiil), like: 
see similar. Cf. facsimile.] In rliet., the com- 
paring or likening of two things having some 
strong point or points of resemblance, both of 
which are mentioned and the comparison di- 
rectly stated ; a poetic or imaginative compari- 
son ; also, the verbal expression or embodiment 
of such a comparison. 
Tra. O. sir, Lucentio slipp'd me like his greyhound, 
Which runs himself and catches for his master. 
Pet. A good swift ximile, but something currish. 
Shale,, 't. of the S., v. 2. 54. 
In this Simily wee have himselfe compar'd to Christ, 
the Parlament to the Devill. Milton, Eikonoklastes, v. 
In Argument 
Similtes are like Songs in Love : 
They much describe; they nothing prove. 
Prior, Alma, iii. 
= Syn. Simile, Metaphor, Comparison, Allegory, Parable, 
Fable, similitude, trope. The first six words agree in im- 
plying or expressing likeness between a main person or 
thing and a subordinate one. Simile is a statement of 
the likeness in literal terms : as, man is like grass ; Herod 
is like a fox. Metaphor taxes the imagination by saying 
that the first object is the second, or by speaking as though 
it were : as, ' All flesh is grass," Isa. xl. 6 ; "Go ye and tell 
that fox." Luke xiii. 32. There are various combinations 
of simile and metaphor: as, "We all do fade as a leaf," 
Isa. Ixiv. 6; 
' There are a sort of men whose visages 
Do cream and mantle, like a standing pool " 
(.S/mA-., M.of V., i. 1. 89). 
In these the metaphor precedes ; in the following the simile 
is in the middle of the metaphor : " These metaphysic rights, 
entering into common life, like rays of light which pierce 
into a dense medium, are, by the laws of Nature, refracted 
from their straight line." (Burke, Rev. in France.) In 
the same way the simile may come first. A comparison 
differs from a simile essentially in that the former fixes 
attention upon the subordinate object, while a simile fixes 
it upon the main one: thus, one verse of Shelley's "Ode 
to the Skylark " begins by saying that the skylark is like 
a poet, whose circumstances are thereupon detailed. 
Generally, on this account, the comparison is longer than 
the simile. The allegory personifies abstract things, usu- 
ally at some length. A short allegory is Ps. Ixxx. 8-16. 
Spenser's "Faery Queene " is a series of allegories upon the 
virtues, and Bunyan's "Pilgrim's Progress" allegorizes 
Christian experiences. These are acknowledged to be the 
most perfect allegories in literature. The allegory is an 
extended simile, with the first object in thesimile carefully 
left unmentioned. A parable is a story that is or might 
be true, and is used generally to teach some moral or re- 
ligious truth : as, the three parables of God's great love 
for the sinner in Luke xv. Socrates's story of the sailors 
who chose their steersman by lot, as suggesting the folly 
of a similar course in choosing the helmsman of the state, 
is a fine example of the parable of civil life. A fable differs 
from sparable in being improbable or impossible as fact, 
as in making trees choose a king, beasts talk, or frogs pray 
to Jupiter; it generally is short, and points a homely moral. 
See the definitions of apoloaue and trope. 
simile (sim'i-le), rfr. [It., < L. si-mile, similis. 
like: see similar, simile, .] In music, in the 
same manner; similarly. Compare sempre. 
simile-mark (sim'i-le-mark), H. In musical nota- 
tion, an abbreviation-mark signifying that the 
contents of the last measure that was I 
written out are to be repeated : as, [ 
See abbreriation, 4. 
similia (si-mil'i-a), n. pi. [NL. neut. pi. of L. 
similis, like: see "similar.] Things which are 
similar or alike; like things; similars Similia 
similibus curantur, or 'like cures like,' ' like things are 
cured by like things,' the homeopathic formula, meaning 
that medicines cure those diseases whose symptoms are 
like the effects of the medicines on the healthy organism. 
Thus, belladonna dilates the pupil of the eye ; it is there- 
fore remedial of diseases of which dilatation of the pupil 
is pathognomonic. 
Similiter (si-mil'i-ter), adr. [L., < similis, like, 
resembling.} In like manner : in law, the tech- 
nical designation of the common-law form by 
which, when the pleading of one party, tender- 
ing an issue, demanded trial, the other accepted 
the issue by saying, "and the [defendant] do- 
eth the like." 
similitude (si-mil'i-tud), . [< ME. similitude, 
< OF. (and F.) similitude = Sp. ximilitiid = It. 
similittidine, < L. similitude (-din-), likeness, < 
similis, like .: see similar. Cf. veriximi/itmle.'] 1. 
Likeness in constitution, qualities, or appear- 
ance ; similarity ; resemblance. 
This lie bears a similitude of truth. 
Beau, and Fl., Thierry and Theodoret, ii. 4. 
The similitude of superstition to religion makes it the 
more deformed. Bacon, Superstition. 
What similitude this dream hath with the truth accom- 
plished you may easily see. 
T. Shepard, Clear Sunshine of the Gospel, p. 15. 
