emulator

American  

[em-yuh-ley-ter] / ˈɛm yəˌleɪ tər /

noun

1. a person or thing that imitates.

   Until quite recently, emulators copied the behaviors of those higher in the social scale than themselves; nowadays, however, people in higher social classes are imitating those in lower ones.

2. Computers. hardware or software designed to imitate a different piece of hardware or a different software system, in order to do the same work or run the same programs.

   These JavaScript emulators allow you to run newer programs on older, incompatible operating systems.

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Etymology

Origin of emulator

First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin aemulātor “imitator,” equivalent to aemul(us) “vying with” + -ator ( def. )

Example Sentences

By using emulators, scientists can explore many possible cosmic scenarios in a fraction of the time and apply advanced techniques such as gradient-based sampling to study intricate physical models with greater efficiency.

From Science Daily

Billie played it, and I ran it through this old SketchCassette like tape emulator, but again the marriage of this song about a doll and Billie playing a little toy keyboard.

From Los Angeles Times

“We can make emulators of these models and then run them 100 times faster,” Bretherton says.

From Science Magazine

While Denuvo’s pretty light on the details, it sounds like it may prevent Switch users from dumping the contents of their games on PC, which they would then run with an emulator.

From The Verge

Before Ship, running the game on a PC required using an emulator to mimic a Nintendo console’s hardware.

From The Verge

Related Words

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• agent
• antagonist
• attacker
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• criminal
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• invader
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• opponent
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• rebel
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