imitation

[im-i-tey-shuhn]

noun

1. a result or product of imitating.

2. the act of imitating.

3. a counterfeit; copy.

4. a literary composition that imitates the manner or subject of another author or work.

5. Biology.,  mimicry.

6. Psychology.,  the performance of an act whose stimulus is the observation of the act performed by another person.

7. Sociology.,  the copying of patterns of activity and thought of other groups or individuals.

8. Art.

   1. (in Aristotelian aesthetics) the representation of an object or an action as it ought to be.

   2. the representation of actuality in art or literature.

9. Music.,  the repetition of a melodic phrase at a different pitch or key from the original or in a different voice part.

adjective

1. designed to imitate a genuine or superior article or thing.

   imitation leather.

2. Jewelry.,  noting an artificial gem no part of which is of the true gemstone.

imitation

/ ˌɪmɪˈteɪʃən /

noun

1. the act, practice, or art of imitating; mimicry

2. an instance or product of imitating, such as a copy of the manner of a person; impression

3. 1. a copy or reproduction of a genuine article; counterfeit

   2. ( as modifier )

      imitation jewellery

4. (in contrapuntal or polyphonic music) the repetition of a phrase or figure in one part after its appearance in another, as in a fugue

5. a literary composition that adapts the style of an older work to the writer's own purposes

Other Word Forms

• imitational adjective
• nonimitational adjective
• overimitation noun
• preimitation noun
• self-imitation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of imitation¹

1350–1400; Middle English < Latin imitātiōn- (stem of imitātiō ). See imitate, -ion

Example Sentences

But the companies that purchased his furniture—or one of the many imitations offered by his competitors—were more often drawn to his design because of economics rather than organizational psychology.

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“How dare you insinuate that my late wife would talk to you, a pale imitation, rather than to her own husband? How dare you talk to me about hope when hope died with her?”

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“If we ask Old Timothy to explain, he will do this,” Beowulf grunted enigmatically, and walked away, in a fine imitation of Old Timothy’s rolling, bowlegged gait.

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She stuck the jet-black feather in her hair and began prancing around and chirping orders in a wicked imitation of Lady Constance Ashton.

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“Knack for navigation,” he boasted, in a fine imitation of that perfectly nice young man with the sextant, Simon Harley-Dickinson.

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Related Words

• clone 
• impersonation 
• impression 
• mimicry 
• parody 
• reflection 
• replica 
• reproduction