mimic

English

Alternative forms

• mimick

Etymology

From (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Latin mimicus, from (deprecated template usage) [etyl] Ancient Greek μιμικός (mimikós, “belonging to mimes”), from μῖμος (mîmos, “imitator, actor”); see mime.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɪm.ɪk/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪmɪk

Verb

mimic (third-person singular simple present mimics, present participle mimicking, simple past and past participle mimicked)

1. To imitate, especially in order to ridicule.
   • 2013 June 1, “A better waterworks”, in The Economist‎^[1], volume 407, number 8838, page 5 (Technology Quarterly):

     An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic the way real kidneys cleanse blood and eject impurities and surplus water as urine.

2. (biology) To take on the appearance of another, for protection or camouflage.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:imitate

Translations

to imitate, especially in order to ridicule

• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 模仿 (zh) (Mófǎng)

• Finnish: imitoida (fi), matkia (fi)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: nachahmen (de)
• Icelandic: herma eftir
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: tāwhai
• Norwegian: herme etter
• Polish: przedrzeźniać
• Portuguese: imitar (pt)
• Russian: имити́ровать (ru) (imitírovatʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian: oponašati (sh)
• Slovene: posnemati (sl), oponašati
• Swedish: härma (sv)
• Thai: เลียน (th) (liian)
• Turkish: taklit etmek (tr)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

biology: to take on the appearance of another, for protection or camouflage

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 拟态 (zh) (Nǐtài)

• Finnish: naamioitua (fi)
• Polish: imitować (pl)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: mimetizar (pt)
• Russian: имити́ровать (ru) (imitírovatʹ)
• Slovene: posnemati (sl)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} nhái (vi), ^{(please verify)} bắt chước (vi)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

Noun

mimic (plural mimics)

1. A person who practices mimicry, or mime.
2. An imitation.

Translations

a person who practices mimicry, or mime

• Finnish: miimikko (fi)
• Irish: aithriseoir m
• Norman: d'ganneux m
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Portuguese: mímico (pt) m
• Russian: мим (ru) m (mim), имита́тор (ru) m (imitátor)

imitation — see imitation

Adjective

mimic (not comparable)

1. Pertaining to mimicry; imitative.
   • Template:RQ:Florio Montaigne Essayes
   • (Can we date this quote by John Milton and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     Oft, in her absence, mimic fancy wakes / To imitate her.

   • (Can we date this quote by Wordsworth and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     And there, with fingers interwoven, both hands
     Pressed closely palm to palm and to his mouth
     Uplifted, he, as through an instrument,
     Blew mimic hootings to the silent owls,
     That they might answer him.

2. Mock, pretended.
3. (mineralogy) Imitative; characterized by resemblance to other forms; applied to crystals which by twinning resemble simple forms of a higher grade of symmetry.

Related terms

• mime
• mimicable
• mimicry

Further reading

• “mimic”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “mimic”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.