Measured or judged against something else as a standard; involving comparison between two or more things.
From Latin 'comparativus,' from 'comparare' meaning 'to pair together' or 'to match,' from 'com-' (together) plus 'par' (equal). The word entered English in the 15th century through grammatical terminology, referring to the comparative degree of adjectives.
The word literally means 'making equal together' - the idea of putting things side by side to see how they measure up. In grammar, comparative forms like 'better' and 'worse' embody this concept, and interestingly, 'comparatively' often softens criticism ('comparatively poor') by implying the judgment isn't absolute.
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