Specify what kind of sameness is claimed
Read for meaning first. Select a highlighted word if you want a closer look.
The class drew a distinction between two characters' plans: one preserved a shared courtyard, while the other replaced it with private storage. Two different diagrams of the first plan were equivalent in function because either showed the same boundaries and access routes. The words courtyard and storage were not synonymous, however, and exchanging them would change the proposal's meaning. The instructor asked students to specify the feature they were comparing before describing objects, plans, or expressions as effectively the same.
That distinction prevented a visually similar pair of plans from being treated as identical in purpose. The two diagrams could be equivalent for locating the entrance even if one used color and the other used labels. Words may be synonymous when they have the same or nearly the same meaning, but comparable drawings do not thereby become words with shared meanings. Students revised several loose claims of sameness by stating whether they meant corresponding function, similar appearance, or closely matching meaning.
Before you move on
Look away from the passage. Can you explain each focus word in your own words?
Original fictional passages for vocabulary practice.