imitate
verbUS /ˈɪmɪteɪt/
Etymology Borrowed from Latin imitātus, perfect active participle of imitor (“to copy, portray, imitate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Cognate with French imiter.
1
To follow as a model or a pattern; to make a copy, counterpart or semblance of.
- Another bird quickly learned to imitate the song of a canary that was mated with it, but as the parrakeet improved in the performance the canary degenerated, and came at last to mingle the other bird's harsh chitterings with its own proper music.1870, Shirley Hibberd, Rustic Adornments for Homes of Taste, page 170:
- A wave simulator in the tank can re-enact tsunamis and northeasters, and imitate wave conditions from midocean.2007 February 20, Tina Kelley, “A Wet Wind Tunnel So Ships Can Move Faster and Better”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 18 Dec 2022:
1 more example
- The room was dark and cool, lit with a dim red light. “This was designed to imitate a cave,” said Rosas.2019 August 21, Tik Root, “Inside the Race to Build the World's First Commercial Octopus Farm”, in TIME, archived from the original on 28 Aug 2019:
- Synonyms
- ape, imitate, mimic, simulate, copy, ditto, echo, emulate, parallel, match, mime, mirror, mock, reproduce
- Derived terms
- counterimitate, imitatee, misimitate, overimitate, self-imitate, unimitated, unimitating