means a figure of speech that compares two unlike things using 'like' or 'as' to highlight a shared quality.

from From Latin simile, meaning 'a like thing' — the neuter form of similis, 'like, resembling.' That same Latin root branches out into a whole family of look-alikes: 'similar,' 'simulate,' 'assemble,' even 'simultaneous.' English borrowed simile straight from Latin in its grammar-school days, keeping the spelling untouched, as if the word itself were resisting any comparison.