"compare with" vs "compare to"

Question

According to the Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English,

The traditional rule about which preposition to use after ''compare'' states that compare should be followed by ''to'' when it points out likenesses or similarities between two apparently dissimilar persons or things:

She compared his handwriting to knotted string.

''Compare'' should be followed by ''with'' when it points out similarities or differences between two entities of the same general class:

The critic compared the paintings in the exhibit with magazine photographs.

Does this rule have to do with the meanings of the prepositions themselves? Otherwise, how did the differentiation come about?

Does this answer your question? "Compared with" vs "Compared to"—which is used when? Also see “compare with” or “compare to” on English Language Learners — FumbleFingers, Dec 10 '19 at 13:42
When things are compared 'to' is used. With people 'with' is preferred. I cannot compare veg meals to non-veg meals, but I can compare a vegetarian with a non-vegetarian. — Ram Pillai, Dec 10 '19 at 13:53
That "rule" is essentially something dreamt up by pedantic precsriptive Victorian grammarians, rather than a reflection of what native speakers actually say. As can be seen by comparing hits in Google Books for compared the handwriting with** and compared the handwriting to**. In both cases, the type of comparison being made is almost always *exactly the same* (it's being compared with/to another handwriting sample). — FumbleFingers, Dec 10 '19 at 13:56
Prepositions are complex things: which preposition is used in which context is often something that you just have to learn, not something based on the innate meaning of the preposition. So the answer to the final question is probably no. — Stuart F, Dec 10 '19 at 14:14
Have you noticed that in general speech, comparing 'with' is like considering two things before deciding on anything? Comparing 'to' means saying there are enough similarities to make a fair measure of qualities, better or worse.
If handwriting does compare 'to' knotted string, even if not as bad, that comparison goes beyond considering that the handwriting might be bad, it states just that. — Yosef Baskin, Dec 10 '19 at 14:54
Apparently, a couple of centuries ago, something was always better compared to* [something similar, but not so good]. But although still the less common choice, compared with [the other thing]* has been steadily gaining ground recently. — FumbleFingers, Dec 10 '19 at 16:44
There's rarely any good explanation of how language develops like this. It just happens organically and spontaneously. — Barmar, Dec 11 '19 at 05:25
Also closely related: When and by whom was the rule for using 'compare to' versus 'compare with' first rcorded? — Sven Yargs, Jul 17 '22 at 06:09

"compare with" vs "compare to"

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