mimic
English
Alternative forms
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
Verb
mimic (third-person singular simple present mimics, present participle mimicking, simple past and past participle mimicked)
- 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.
- (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
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biology: to take on the appearance of another, for protection or camouflage
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- 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
Noun
mimic (plural mimics)
Translations
a person who practices mimicry, or mime
imitation — see imitation
Adjective
mimic (not comparable)
- 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.
- And there, with fingers interwoven, both hands
- Mock, pretended.
- (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
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.
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