emulate

American  

[em-yuh-leyt, em-yuh-lit] / ˈɛm yəˌleɪt, ˈɛm yə lɪt /

verb (used with object)

emulated, emulating

1. to try to equal or excel; imitate with effort to equal or surpass.

   to emulate one's father as a concert violinist.

   Synonyms:

   copy, follow

2. to rival with some degree of success.

   Some smaller cities now emulate the major capitals in their cultural offerings.

3. Computers.

   1. to imitate (a particular computer system) by using a software system, often including a microprogram or another computer that enables it to do the same work, run the same programs, etc., as the first.

   2. to replace (software) with hardware to perform the same task.

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adjective

1. Obsolete. emulous.

emulate British  

/ ˈɛmjʊˌleɪt /

verb

1. to attempt to equal or surpass, esp by imitation

2. to rival or compete with

3. to make one computer behave like (another different type of computer) so that the imitating system can operate on the same data and execute the same programs as the imitated system

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Other Word Forms

• emulative
  adjective
• emulatively
  adverb
• emulator
  noun
• nonemulative
  adjective
• overemulate
  verb (used with object)
• unemulative
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of emulate

First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin aemulātus, past participle of aemulārī “to rival”; see emulous, -ate ¹

Explanation

When you emulate someone, you imitate them, especially with the idea of matching their success. When someone is impressive because of their great skills, brains, strength, or accomplishments, others will emulate them. To emulate is to imitate and model yourself after someone. People emulate role models — people they want to be like. After Michael Jordan retired from the NBA, player after player tried to emulate Jordan's game and success. It's hard to be as good as someone like that, but having a hero to emulate can be helpful in many areas of life.

Example Sentences

In one recent study, the biotech company Emulate, which makes organs on chips, used a liver-on-a-chip to screen 27 well-studied drugs.

From New York Times • Mar. 7, 2023

Last month, Lorna Ewart, chief scientific officer at Emulate, Ingber, and colleagues published a study highlighting the potential of this technology.

From Science Magazine • Jan. 10, 2023

Emulate Sir Ridley and take a big swing, even if it misses.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 23, 2021

The Berkeley and Emulate researchers use human induced pluripotent stem cells, which are adult stem cells that can be coaxed back to their embryonic state and then encouraged to become many different types of tissue.

From Economist • Jun. 11, 2015

Emulate, to strive to equal or excel, to rival.

From The New McGuffey Fourth Reader by McGuffey, William Holmes

Related Words

• follow suit
• imitate
• mimic
• mirror