Learn English – What are the best words to describe subjects being compared

comparativescomparisonsdegree-of-comparisonword-choiceword-usage

I tried to Google this but no luck so far. I was wondering if there was proper words to describe the comparison of 2 subjects?

  1. The first subject would be the object being compared in relation to
    the other (the baseline).
  2. The second subject would be the object compared to the first one.

So you could say, subject 1 is taller than subject 2 for example.

Do we say subject 1 is the subject of comparison and subject 2 is the comparee? I saw some scientific article using the word comparee but it doesn't sound proper to me.

Given the topic, I am updating this question with more context so that it is less confusing. It looks like comparison subjects can have quite a few different names depending on their context. Here is the context I'm looking for (watch out for the pseudocode – yes I'm know I'm not on Stackoverflow…):

function isGreater(subject1, subject2) {
if (subject1 > subject2) {
return true;
}
return false;
}

More precisely, I'm looking for the left/right words (subject1/subject2) which would be the most semantically correct. We're also presuming that the order does not change and that is example is way much simpler than what I'm trying to solve (which is why semantic variable names make sense).

Please help!

Best Answer

Expressions Diagram

OVERVIEW: Expression Diagram: 

        operand  operand operand
            |       |       |
expression: X   =   A   +   B   
                |       |   
            operator operator

DEFINITIONS: 

OPERATORS   :  operators are symbols that allow the user to instruct the computer to preform
               a certain mathematical or logical operation                  
OPERANDS    :  operands are constants, variables, objects, functions to be operated on by the 
               operator                 

TIP  To understand many of the terms used in computer science and mathematics better, it is  
     helpful to understand the following suffixes that apply to many of these terms.                        

    Suffix             Definition In Context                
              -and  :  the subject that is to be dealt with in a specified way              
    -tor, -or, -er  :  the agent: that takes an active role in or produces a specific effect

OPERATORS: 

Examples                        
Logical operators     :  
    plus sign [+], hyphen-minus [-], x or asterisk [*], ÷ or forward-slash [/], caret [^], 
    backslash [\], vertical line [|]                    
Comparative operators :  
    lesser-than sign [<], greater-than sign [>], equal sign [=], or other symbols. 
    Includes definer words such as NOT, AND, OR, etc.                   

In Computer Science:                        
• asterisk [*] replaces 'x' for multiplication                      
• forward-slash [/] replaces the typical obelus (÷), fraction bar, Semi-colon, or 
  long-division (division bracket and vinculum) often used in written mathematics to 
  represent division and/or fractions                       
• caret [^] replaces the superscript representation of exponents in written mathematics. 
  e.g. A^B is equivalent to A<sup>B</sup>                       
• because of the impracticality of using a large set of symbols that traditional written 
  math incorporates, logical and comparative operators are typically replaced with 
  definer words, which vary depending on the programming language.  
  e.g. NOT is equivalent to the not-equal-to symbol [≠] in Visual Basic                     

Note: order of operation qualifiers and functions are not discussed here

EXPRESSIONS and OPERANDS (unambiguous): 

additive expression                     
 addend  summand   sum              
    |       |       |   
[subject][agent][result]                
    |       |       |   
    A   +   B   =   X   
    in the additive expression, the left operand is the subject and is called an 'addend', while 
    the right operand is the agent called a 'summand'. The result is called a 'sum'                 
    • A and B (or all numbers to be added together) are referred to as 'addends' generally                  


subtractive expression                      
 minuend  subtrahend  difference                
    |         |           | 
[subject]  [agent]  [result]                
    |         |           | 
    A    —    B     =     X 
    in the subtractive expression, the left operand is the subject called a 'minuend', the right 
    operand is the agent called a 'subtrahend'. The result is called the 'difference'                   


divisional expression                       
 dividend  divisor  quotient                
    |         |        |    
[subject]  [agent]  [result]                
    |         |        |    
    A    ÷    B   =    X    
    in the divisional expression, the left operand [subject] is called 'dividend', the right 
    operand [agent] is called 'divisor'. The result is called 'quotient'                    


multiplicative expression                       
 multiplicand   multiplier  product             
      |             |          |    
  [subject]      [agent]   [result]             
      |             |          |    
      A      x      B     =    X    
    in the multiplicative expression, the left operand [subject] is called 'multiplicand', the 
    right operand [agent] is called 'multiplier'. The result is called 'product'                    
    • A and B (or all numbers being multiplied together) are also called 'factors' generally                    


exponential expression                      
   base   exponent   power          
    |        |        | 
[subject] [agent]  [result]             
    |        |        | 
    A   ^    B    =   X 
    in the exponential expression, the left operand [subject] is called 'base', the right 
    operand [agent] is called 'exponent'. The result is called 'power'                  
    • B (the exponent) is sometimes called the 'index'. It is also often referred to as 
      the 'power' erroneously. Only the result is correctly named 'power'                   
    • an exponential expression is also called an 'exponentiation' 
      (like multiplication, addition, division)             


comparative expression                      
 comparand  comparator  result              
     |          |         | 
 [subject]   [agent]   [result]             
     |          |         | 
     A   <=>    B    =    X 
    in the comparative expression, the left operand [subject] is called 'comparand', the 
    right operand [agent] is called 'comparator'. The result is called 'result'                 
    • in a comparative expression, all operands are expressions in themselves. The result is 
      obtained by comparing these expressions to each other.        
    • the operands (expressions) of a comparative do not have to be numbers, but can be strings, 
      objects or other values and functions. Every comparative result equates to binary 
      values TRUE or FALSE. (e.g. does false equal true = false, does 3 equal 4 = false)                    
    • the end result typically equates to a Boolean value. In computer science, comparative 
      operators may include AND, OR, XOR, NOT or a combination of these and the 
      "<, >, =" symbols; or other symbols and definer words as well. 
      e.g. JavaScript '==' means equal-to               
    • in all of the example expressions above, X (the result) is a comparative expression to AB 
      that invokes the calculation of the value that results to TRUE of the comparative. 
      If we put 'Y = " in front of them, then Y equals the binary comparative of AB=X, 
      X being an expression in form of a value that the comparative AB=X compares whether is 
      TRUE or FALSE.
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