megalocomparison
megalocomparison noun: long-range comparison; especially, far-fetched long-range comparison that cannot sufficiently demonstrate any genetic relationship.
Noun
megalocomparison (uncountable)
- Long-range comparison; especially, far-fetched long-range comparison that cannot sufficiently demonstrate any genetic relationship.
- Megalocomparison takes on any more remote relationship, where sound-correspondences are not regular and putative cognates are few, so that chance rivals genetic relationship as the explanation for perceived similarities.[1990, J. A. Matisoff, “On Megalocomparison”, in Language, volume 66, number 1, →DOI, pages 106–120
- There have been many recent broadsides on megalocomparison, and those who still think them inappropriate may find this paper a revelation[…]1994, J. T. Katz, “Review of Explanation in Historical Linguistics by G. W. Davis & G. K. Iverson”, in Language, volume 70, number 1, →DOI, pages 199–200
Origin of megalocomparison
From megalo- + comparison, coined by Matisoff (1990) in a critique of Joseph Greenberg's "mass comparison" (see quotation below).
Words formed from megalocomparison
Questions about megalocomparison
- What does megalocomparison mean?
- Megalocomparison means long-range comparison; especially, far-fetched long-range comparison that cannot sufficiently demonstrate any genetic relationship.
- What part of speech is megalocomparison?
- Megalocomparison is a noun.
Words near megalocomparison in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: megalocomparison (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “megalocomparison.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/megalocomparison. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.