emulate

[verb em-yuh-leyt; adjective em-yuh-lit]

See more synonyms for emulate on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object), em·u·lat·ed, em·u·lat·ing.

to try to equal or excel; imitate with effort to equal or surpass: to emulate one's father as a concert violinist.
to rival with some degree of success: Some smaller cities now emulate the major capitals in their cultural offerings.
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.

adjective

Obsolete. emulous.

Origin of emulate

1580–90; < Latin aemulātus, past participle of aemulārī to rival. See emulous, -ate¹

Related formsem·u·la·tive, adjectiveem·u·la·tive·ly, adverbem·u·la·tor, nounnon·em·u·la·tive, adjectiveo·ver·em·u·late, verb (used with object), o·ver·em·u·lat·ed, o·ver·em·u·lat·ing.un·em·u·la·tive, adjective

Can be confusedemulate immolate

Synonyms for emulate

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1. follow, copy.

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

Related Words for emulative

apish, mimic, simulated, copied, duplicated, mimetic, simulative

Examples from the Web for emulative

Historical Examples of emulative

Their eagerness was emulative, and made them rapid in their haste.
The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume XXI, 1624
Various
She was too self-centred, and, if the truth were told, too emulative.
By the Light of the Soul
Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
Wealth gives rank, and gratifies not only the greed but also the emulative spirit of the pack.
The Origin of Man and of his Superstitions
Carveth Read
Pecuniary management is of an emulative character and gives, primarily, relative success only.
The Place of Science in Modern Civilisation and Other Essays
Thorstein Veblen
By degrees men and women are making ready to take their places in an emulative rather than a materialistically competitive order.
An Essay On The American Contribution And The Democratic Idea
Winston Churchill

British Dictionary definitions for emulative

emulate

verb (tr)

to attempt to equal or surpass, esp by imitation
to rival or compete with
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

Derived Formsemulative, adjectiveemulatively, adverbemulator, noun

Word Origin for emulate

C16: from Latin aemulārī, from aemulus competing with; probably related to imitārī to imitate

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 emulative

emulate

1580s, back-formation from emulation, or else from Latin aemulatus, past participle of aemulari "to rival." Related: Emulated; emulating.