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imitate - 3 dictionary results

im⋅i⋅tate

  [im-i-teyt]
Use imitate in a Sentence
–verb (used with object), -tat⋅ed, -tat⋅ing.
1. to follow or endeavor to follow as a model or example: to imitate an author's style; to imitate an older brother.
2. to mimic; impersonate: The students imitated the teacher behind her back.
3. to make a copy of; reproduce closely.
4. to have or assume the appearance of; simulate; resemble.
Origin:
1525–35; < L imitātus ptp. of imitārī to copy, presumably a freq. akin to the base of imāgō image

Related forms:
im⋅i⋅ta⋅tor, noun

Synonyms:
2. ape, mock. 3. Imitate, copy, duplicate, reproduce all mean to follow or try to follow an example or pattern. Imitate is the general word for the idea: to imitate someone's handwriting, behavior. To copy is to make a fairly exact imitation of an original creation: to copy a sentence, a dress, a picture. To duplicate is to produce something that exactly resembles or corresponds to something else; both may be originals: to duplicate the terms of two contracts. To reproduce is to make a likeness or reconstruction of an original: to reproduce a 16th-century theater.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To imitate
im·i·tate   (ĭm'ĭ-tāt')   
tr.v.   im·i·tat·ed, im·i·tat·ing, im·i·tates
  1. To use or follow as a model.
    1. To copy the actions, appearance, mannerisms, or speech of; mimic: amused friends by imitating the teachers.
    2. To copy or use the style of: brushwork that imitates Rembrandt.
  3. To copy exactly; reproduce.
  4. To appear like; resemble.

[Latin imitārī, imitāt-; see aim- in Indo-European roots.]
im'i·ta'tor n.
Synonyms: These verbs mean to follow something or someone taken as a model. To imitate is to act like or follow a pattern or style set by another: "Art imitates Nature" (Richard Franck).
To copy is to duplicate an original as precisely as possible: "His grandfather had spent a laborious life-time in Rome, copying the Old Masters for a generation which lacked the facile resource of the camera" (Edith Wharton).
To mimic is to make a close imitation, often with an intent to ridicule: "fresh carved cedar, mimicking a glade/Of palm and plaintain" (John Keats).
To ape is to follow another's lead slavishly but often with an absurd result: "Those [superior] states of mind do not come from aping an alien culture" (John Russell).
To parody is either to imitate with comic effect or to attempt a serious imitation and fail: "All these peculiarities [of Samuel Johnson's literary style] have been imitated by his admirers and parodied by his assailants" (Thomas Macaulay).
To simulate is to feign or falsely assume the appearance or character of something: "I ... lay there simulating death" (W.H. Hudson).
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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Imitate

Im"i*tate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Imitated; p. pr. & vb. n. Imitating.] [L. imitatus, p. p. of imitari to imitate; of unknown origin. Cf. Image.]

1. To follow as a pattern, model, or example; to copy or strive to copy, in acts, manners etc.

Despise wealth and imitate a dog. --Cowlay.

2. To produce a semblance or likeness of, in form, character, color, qualities, conduct, manners, and the like; to counterfeit; to copy.

A place picked out by choice of best alive The Nature's work by art can imitate. --Spenser.

This hand appeared a shining sword to weild, And that sustained an imitated shield. --Dryden.

3. (Biol.) To resemble (another species of animal, or a plant, or inanimate object) in form, color, ornamentation, or instinctive habits, so as to derive an advantage thereby; sa, when a harmless snake imitates a venomous one in color and manner, or when an odorless insect imitates, in color, one having secretion offensive to birds.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : imitate
Spanish: imitar,
German: nachahmen,
Japanese: まねる
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