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Literary notes about Similitude (AI summary)

In literature, the term similitude is deployed to evoke a sense of likeness that transcends simple physical resemblance, functioning as both a literal and symbolic bridge between disparate elements. Writers employ it in diverse contexts—from the mathematical or geometrical, where it underscores precise correspondence as seen in discussions of poles and triangles [1, 2], to the poetic and theological, where it illuminates the divine imprint on humanity [3, 4, 5]. At times, similitude serves a rhetorical role to critique or draw sharp distinctions in character or manner, as noted in philosophical dialogues and moral discourses [6, 7]. Even in the realm of art and portraiture, the word captures the delicate interplay between appearance and essence, highlighting a mirroring of features that resonates on both a concrete and abstract level [8, 9].
  1. to have lines passing from them through a point S, the pole of similitude , and prolonged beyond it to M’, N’, P’, . . . .
    — from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson
  2. Conditions of similitude.—To construct on a given right line, a triangle similar to a given triangle.
    — from The Declaration of Independence of the United States of America by Thomas Jefferson
  3. Heaven with a secret principle endued Mankind, to seek their own similitude.
    — from The Odyssey by Homer
  4. Why should not Man, Retaining still Divine similitude In part, from such deformities be free,
    — from Paradise Lost by John Milton
  5. Why should not Man, Retaining still divine similitude In part, from such deformities be free, And, for his Maker's image sake, exempt?
    — from Paradise Lost by John Milton
  6. That similitude which you are so very fond of is nothing to the purpose.
    — from Cicero's Tusculan Disputations by Marcus Tullius Cicero
  7. But among men, do we not see a disparity of manners in persons very much alike, and a similitude of manners in persons unlike?
    — from Cicero's Tusculan Disputations by Marcus Tullius Cicero
  8. The similitude of the locket is likewise then given below.
    — from Hung Lou Meng, or, the Dream of the Red Chamber, a Chinese Novel, Book I by Xueqin Cao
  9. ‘Is it not, my dear madam, the faint similitude of—’ ‘It is my daughter’s portrait,’ said Mrs. Nickleby, with great pride.
    — from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

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