emulate

American  

[em-yuh-leyt, em-yuh-lit] / ˈɛm jəˌleɪt, ˈɛm jə lɪt /

verb (used with object)

emulates, present (3rd person singular) emulated, past participle, past emulating present participle

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

Derived Forms

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

Inflected Forms

Participles

• emulating
  present
• emulated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• emulate
  simple
• emulates
  simple
• have emulated
  perfect
• has emulated
  perfect
• am emulating
  progressive
• are emulating
  progressive
• is emulating
  progressive
• have been emulating
  perfect progressive
• has been emulating
  perfect progressive

Past

• emulated
  simple
• had emulated
  perfect
• was emulating
  progressive
• were emulating
  progressive
• had been emulating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will emulate
  simple
• will have emulated
  perfect
• will be emulating
  progressive
• will have been emulating
  perfect progressive

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

I wanted them to emulate the hands they’ve passed through and illustrate the history of the country and the state.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 2, 2026

With the top four ranked countries - Argentina, Brazil, England and France - kept apart in the bracket it makes it more difficult to emulate Morocco and reach the last four.

From BBC • Jun. 29, 2026

And on Friday, in Seahawks country, Alex managed to emulate his father in a way that should have been impossible, considering they picked different sports.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 20, 2026

His model was the Bank of England, whose funding was key to Britain’s industrial revolution, which Hamilton wanted the U.S. to emulate.

From Barron's • Jun. 17, 2026

Even Boughton, though, whose fairy opera The Immortal Hour opened at Glastonbury twenty-two days after the British Empire declared war on Germany in August 1914, didn’t emulate Wagner’s musical style.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

Related Words

• follow suit
• imitate
• mimic
• mirror