facsimile
Americannoun
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facsimiles
plural
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an exact copy, as of a book, painting, or manuscript.
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Also called fax. Telecommunications.
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a method or device for transmitting documents, drawings, photographs, or the like, by means of radio or telephone for exact reproduction elsewhere.
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an image transmitted by such a method.
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verb (used with object)
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facsimiles,
present (3rd person singular)
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facsimiled,
past participle, past
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facsimileing
present participle
adjective
noun
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an exact copy or reproduction
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( as modifier )
a facsimile publication
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an image produced by facsimile transmission
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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facsimilesimple
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facsimilessimple
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have facsimiledperfect
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has facsimiledperfect
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am facsimileingprogressive
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are facsimileingprogressive
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is facsimileingprogressive
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have been facsimileingperfect progressive
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has been facsimileingperfect progressive
Past
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facsimiledsimple
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had facsimiledperfect
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was facsimileingprogressive
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were facsimileingprogressive
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had been facsimileingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of facsimile
1655–65; earlier fac simile make the like, equivalent to Latin fac (imperative of facere ) + simile, noun use of neuter of similis like; see simile
Explanation
A facsimile is a copy or reproduction of something. Many parents hope their children will be facsimiles of themselves; many children have other plans in mind. Facsimile comes from two Latin roots: facere, meaning "to make," and simile, meaning "like." Fax machines are so called because they copy and transmit facsimiles of documents, or faxes for short, over phone lines. Grammatically speaking, photocopiers also make facsimiles, but oddly enough those are referred to as copies — not faxes.
Vocabulary lists containing facsimile
Make Do: Fac
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "F"
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This Week in Words: February 19 - 23, 2018
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
But for a fair number of others, the main objection is that Summerween cheapens Halloween — that to celebrate a summer facsimile will dilute the real thing.
From Salon ● Jun. 30, 2026
But would the holographic pixels of an A.I.-generated facsimile capture the tiny crevices between my brother’s crooked teeth?
From Slate ● Apr. 23, 2026
The show is adapted from, in fact is almost a facsimile of, the Apple TV+ series, which ran two short seasons.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026
In an August quarterly earnings call, Beyond Chief Executive Ethan Brown said the shortened name “provides for reduced emphasis on facsimile, a now-complicated frame that overshadows the real, high-quality protein offerings we provide to consumers.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 10, 2026
On its surface, the booming market in side bets on subprime mortgage bonds seemed to be the financial equivalent of fantasy football: a benign, if silly, facsimile of investing.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Actual celebrities who have begun trademarking their names and catchphrases do so because their careers are likely to be impacted by AI facsimiles of them.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026
Near both the Peace Prize medal and the handprint are kid-friendly facsimiles that visitors can touch.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 17, 2026
But after two dry-runs with facsimiles, the culture ministry in Paris is confident the technical difficulties have been overcome.
From BBC ● Jun. 4, 2026
The venue forbids phones, so it was a joy to see a crowd focused on the stage without hundreds of little screens recording poor facsimiles of the live event.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 4, 2024
Frontispiece by J. Hyatt after a miniature, and ten facsimiles.
From A Catalogue of Books in English Later than 1700 (Vol 1 of 3) Forming a portion of the library of Robert Hoe by Various
It’s not difficult to imagine why some Fijians, earning minimum wages of less than $2 an hour, hold wealthy foreign investors in contempt — a phenomenon facsimiled in other developing nations in the Pacific.
From Time ● Aug. 28, 2013
This was hardly what John wanted; but, not to be beaten, he facsimiled the P. 35master's freehand in a sort of engraver's stipple, which his habitual neatness helped him to do in perfection.
From The Life of John Ruskin by W. G. (William Gershom) Collingwood
If a page is torn, it can be repaired, or if a piece of it is missing, it can be facsimiled, and the whole of the inside of the volume can be washed throughout.
From The Private Library What We Do Know, What We Don't Know, What We Ought to Know About Our Books by Arthur Lee Humphreys
Girdelstone and Monteagle, meanwhile, were to set about having the Aulus Gellius printed and facsimiled; for I thought it was a pity such a work should be lost to the world.
From Masques & Phases by Robert Ross
Blake, 1804, facsimiled at Edmonton, anno 1886, By Wm.
From A Catalogue of Books in English Later than 1700 (Vol 1 of 3) Forming a portion of the library of Robert Hoe by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
