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Imitation

 - 6 dictionary results

im⋅i⋅ta⋅tion

[im-i-tey-shuhn]
–noun
1. a result or product of imitating.
2. the act of imitating.
3. a counterfeit; copy.
4. a literary composition that imitates the manner or subject of another author or work.
5. Biology. mimicry.
6. Psychology. the performance of an act whose stimulus is the observation of the act performed by another person.
7. Sociology. the copying of patterns of activity and thought of other groups or individuals.
8. Art.
a. (in Aristotelian aesthetics) the representation of an object or an action as it ought to be.
b. the representation of actuality in art or literature.
9. Music. the repetition of a melodic phrase at a different pitch or key from the original or in a different voice part.
–adjective
10. designed to imitate a genuine or superior article or thing: imitation leather.
11. Jewelry. noting an artificial gem no part of which is of the true gemstone. Compare assembled, synthetic (def. 5).

Origin:
1350–1400; ME < L imitātiōn- (s. of imitātiō). See imitate, -ion


im⋅i⋅ta⋅tion⋅al, adjective

mod⋅el⋅ing

[mod-l-ing]
–noun
1. the act, art, or profession of a person who models.
2. the process of producing sculptured form with some plastic material, as clay.
3. the technique of rendering the illusion of volume on a two-dimensional surface by shading.
4. the treatment of volume, as the turning of a form, in sculpture.
5. the representation, often mathematical, of a process, concept, or operation of a system, often implemented by a computer program.
6. Also called imitation. Psychology. therapy in which a particular behavior is elicited by the observation of similar behavior in others.
Also, especially British, mod⋅el⋅ling.


Origin:
1575–85; model + -ing 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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im·i·ta·tion   (ĭm'ĭ-tā'shən)   
n.  
  1. The act or an instance of imitating.

  2. Something derived or copied from an original.

  3. Music

    1. Repetition of a phrase or melody often with variations in key, rhythm, and voice.

    2. Repetition of a theme in another voice such that each part continues polyphonously.

adj.  Made to resemble another, usually superior material: imitation fur.
im'i·ta'tion·al adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

imitation 
1502, from O.Fr. imitacion, from L. imitationem (nom. imitatio) "imitation," from imitari "to copy, portray, imitate," from PIE *im-eto-, from base *aim- "copy." (Related to L. imago, see image). The verb imitate is first recorded 1534.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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Medical Dictionary

modeling mod·el·ing (mŏd'l-ĭng)
n.

  1. The acquisition of a new skill by observing and imitating that behavior being performed by another individual.

  2. In behavior modification, a treatment procedure in which the therapist models the target behavior which the learner is to imitate.

  3. A continuous process by which a bone is altered in size and shape during its growth by resorption and formation of bone at different sites and rates.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
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Encyclopedia

imitation

in psychology, the reproduction or performance of an act that is stimulated by the perception of a similar act by another animal or person. Essentially, it involves a model to which the attention and response of the imitator are directed

Learn more about imitation with a free trial on Britannica.com.

Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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