analogous

Meanings

1. Having analogy, the status of an analogue; corresponding to something else; bearing some resemblance or similar proportion (often followed by "to".)
2. Functionally similar, but arising through convergent evolution rather than being homologous.

Etymology

From Latin analogus, from Ancient Greek ᾰ̓νᾰ́λογος (ănắlogos); Its English equivalent is analogue + -ous. The application to similar features of organisms is nearly as old as the general sense. Recognizably modern uses of the second sense, distinguishing analogous from homologous, appear in the mid-19th century.