According to Goethe, the ancients are "the despair of the emulator."
Of the same kind are the emotions which the death of an emulator or competitor produces.
The climate is described by some emulator of Thomson to consist of "Tre mesi d'Inferno, nove d'inverno."
1580s, from Latin aemulator, agent noun from aemulari (see emulation). Computer sense attested by 1965.
1580s, back-formation from emulation, or else from Latin aemulatus, past participle of aemulari "to rival." Related: Emulated; emulating.
