Would you say you are more similar to your mother or your father? Or maybe one of your uncles? Similar, dissimilar, and similarity derive from Latin similis (like). Similar means to resemble something, while similarity is the closeness of appearance to something else, and dissimilar is how unlike things are.
If someone says there is very little similitude in their views on the topic, or the similitude struck me in their writing style, they mean likeness or resemblance. Similarity and similitude can be interchangeably used. My twin cousins have such similitude that I find it hard to tell them apart.
A simile (figure of speech) compares two (different) things to present a better (or more ornamental) description, as in, his eyes are like blazing fire or beauty passes like a dream. “My brother and I fought like cats and dogs” is another example
Assimilate comes from Latin as- + similare (to make alike). It is used in the sense of absorbing or take in, as in, to assimilate knowledge or information. It is also used in sentences such as ‘the report found that immigrants who assimilate with the people of their adopted country in their dress, language, and public personas are less likely to face racial abuse.’Cultural assimilation often occurs concerning how people dress. A woman from the United States or Western Europe who moves to or visits a country where it is traditional for women to wear head coverings may adapt to that cultural norm for dress in a setting where it would be expected or appropriate.
Tabular Summary:
| Prefix | Word | Suffix | Meaning |
| similar | having a resemblance in appearance, character, or quantity, without being identical | ||
| dis | similar | not the same; different. | |
| similar | ity | the state or fact of being similar. | |
| simile | a figure of speech involving the comparison of one thing with another thing of a different kind, used to make a description more emphatic or vivid | ||
| simili | tude | the quality or state of being similar to something | |
| assimilate | take in and understand fully (information or ideas) | ||
| assimila | tion | the absorption and digestion of food or nutrients by the body or any biological system |
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