same

same, selfsame, very, identical, identic, equivalent, equal, tantamount can mean either not different from the other or others or not differing from each other.

Same may imply, and selfsame invariably implies, that the things under consideration are in reality one and not two or three different things

{

this is the selfsame book that John once owned

}

{

they go to the same summer resort year after year

}

{

voted out of power ... by the selfsame people who had put them into office in the first place— Fairless

}

{

perhaps the selfsame owl that used to fly overhead—Eve Langley

}

But same may also be applied to things actually distinct but with no appreciable difference in quality, kind, appearance, amount, or significance

{

saw Wheeler riding in state in the great Dewey parade ... in 1898, wearing the same uniform that Miles and Merritt wore— Long

}

{

would be looked upon as one of the afterguard, and would eat the same rations as the captain— Chippendale

}

Very, like selfsame, implies complete absence of difference and therefore oneness in the things under consideration

{

you are the very man I have been anxious to see

}

{

that is the very thing that I was saying— Shelley

}

{

here in this very town there was once a café— McCullers

}

Identical (see also LIKE) implies either selfsameness

{

I found it at the identical spot where I left it

}

{

the authors of the anonymous Waverley and of the popular Lady of the Lake were found to be identical

}

or absolute agreement in all details (as of quality, shape, and appearance)

{

since the sculptures are identical one must be a replica of the other

}

{

no two leaves from the same tree are identical

}

{

twins that are identical develop from a single fertilized egg

}

{

a thousand identical gaunt gray houses— Roueché

}

{

the same measures . . . may flow from distinct powers; but this does not prove that the powers themselves are identical— John Marshall

}

Identic occurs chiefly in diplomatic or governmental use and like identical implies absolute agreement in all details

{

the Allies sent identic answers to the ultimatum

}

{

identic notes utilized by the powers in making joint representation to a government— Stuart y

}

Equivalent is used of things that amount to the same thing or are freely interchangeable in some respect (as worth, force, significance, or import)

{

some heirs received their legacies in cash, some in real estate of equivalent value

}

{

in economics, the equivalent of a beautifully composed work of art is the smoothly running factory in which the workers are perfectly adjusted to the machines— Huxley

}

Equal implies complete correspondence (as in number, amount, magnitude, or value) and therefore equivalence but not selfsameness

{

equal salaries

}

{

equal quantities

}

{

equal merit

}

{

divide in equal shares

}

{

the General . . . greeted Mrs. Churchill in English, and spoke it throughout the meal. To make things equal, I spoke French— Sir Winston Churchilly

}

Tantamount, otherwise identical with equivalent, is restricted in application to one of a pair of usually immaterial things that are in effect equivalent the one to the other (as in value, significance, or effect)

{

such a movement . . . would be tantamount to a confession of failure— Trollope

}

{

refusal to prolong the truce . . . would be tantamount to a threat— Current Biog.

}

Analogous words: alike, *like, akin, parallel, uniform

Antonyms: different