emulation

[em-yuh-ley-shuhn]

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noun

effort or desire to equal or excel others.
Obsolete. jealous rivalry.

Origin of emulation

First recorded in 1545–55, emulation is from the Latin word aemulātiōn- (stem of aemulātiō). See emulate, -ion

Related formsnon·em·u·la·tion, nouno·ver·em·u·la·tion, noun

Synonyms for emulation

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1. imitation, competition.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for emulation

simulation, impersonation, mimicry, aspiration, ambitiousness, rivalry, envy, competition, aping, mirroring

Examples from the Web for emulation

Contemporary Examples of emulation

What's not clear is whether Platt will profit or finally suffer from all the adoration and emulation.
Ripping Off Larry Platt's "Pants"
Kim Masters
February 1, 2010
Eliphaz Laki had been someone worthy of emulation: a prominent civil servant, a regional administrator known as a saza chief.
Vanished in Uganda
Andrew Rice
June 5, 2009
It was very much the same way I believe Obama will seek to lead—partly by instinct and partly by emulation.
Obama's Speech and the Burden of History
Harold Evans
January 20, 2009

Historical Examples of emulation

If possible:—that is, I confess, the object of my emulation.
Tales And Novels, Volume 5 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
There was perfect uniformity, and yet an individual spirit and emulation.
The Uncommercial Traveller
Charles Dickens
He had a mind untainted with envy, highly capable of emulation.
Tales And Novels, Volume 9 (of 10)
Maria Edgeworth
Was the boy trying to trick him, in emulation of his elders?
The Heart of Thunder Mountain
Edfrid A. Bingham
Criticism cannot reach, envy cannot detract from, emulation cannot equal them.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine -- Volume 57, No. 351, January 1845
Various

British Dictionary definitions for emulation

emulation

noun

the act of emulating or imitating
the effort or desire to equal or surpass another or others
archaic jealous rivalry

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for emulation

1550s, from Middle French émulation (13c.) and directly from Latin aemulationem (nominative aemulatio), from past participle stem of aemulari "to rival, strive to excel," from aemulus "striving, rivaling" (also as a noun, "a rival," fem. aemula), from Proto-Italic *aimo-, from PIE *aim-olo, from root *aim- "copy" (see imitation).