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resemble

v.
C1 Advanced Oxford US //ɹiˈzɛmbəɫ// UK //ɹɪsˈɛmbəl// re·sem·ble Archaic

v. to look like or be similar to someone or something else. You use this when two things share the same appearance or qualities.

v. to be similar to or bear a likeness to another entity. Transitive; the similarity can be physical, structural, or behavioral.


SIMPLE

The two brothers resemble each other very much.

CONTEXTUAL

The new office building was designed to resemble a stack of books to reflect the company's history.

COMPLEX

While the early prototypes resemble the final product in basic form, they lack the sophisticated internal mechanisms that define the current iteration's performance.

Origin

From Middle English resemblen, from Anglo-Norman resembler, ressembler, from re- + sembler (“to seem”). By surface analysis, re- + semble.

Usage

The verb is transitive and does not take a preposition before the object. It is a stative verb and is rarely used in the continuous (-ing) form.

Pitfall

She resembles to her motherShe resembles her motherResemble is a transitive verb and takes a direct object without the preposition 'to'.

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