imitation

[ im-i-tey-shuhn ]
See synonyms for imitation on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a result or product of imitating.

  2. the act of imitating.

  1. a counterfeit; copy.

  2. a literary composition that imitates the manner or subject of another author or work.

  3. Biology. mimicry.

  4. Psychology. the performance of an act whose stimulus is the observation of the act performed by another person.

  5. Sociology. the copying of patterns of activity and thought of other groups or individuals.

  6. Art.

    • (in Aristotelian aesthetics) the representation of an object or an action as it ought to be.

    • the representation of actuality in art or literature.

  7. Music. the repetition of a melodic phrase at a different pitch or key from the original or in a different voice part.

adjective
  1. designed to imitate a genuine or superior article or thing: imitation leather.

  2. Jewelry. noting an artificial gem no part of which is of the true gemstone.: Compare assembled, synthetic (def. 5).

Origin of imitation

1
1350–1400; Middle English <Latin imitātiōn- (stem of imitātiō). See imitate, -ion

Other words from imitation

  • im·i·ta·tion·al, adjective
  • non·im·i·ta·tion·al, adjective
  • o·ver·im·i·ta·tion, noun
  • pre·im·i·ta·tion, noun
  • self-im·i·ta·tion, noun

Words Nearby imitation

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use imitation in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for imitation

imitation

/ (ˌɪmɪˈteɪʃən) /


noun
  1. the act, practice, or art of imitating; mimicry

  2. an instance or product of imitating, such as a copy of the manner of a person; impression

    • a copy or reproduction of a genuine article; counterfeit

    • (as modifier): imitation jewellery

  1. (in contrapuntal or polyphonic music) the repetition of a phrase or figure in one part after its appearance in another, as in a fugue

  2. a literary composition that adapts the style of an older work to the writer's own purposes

Derived forms of imitation

  • imitational, adjective

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012