mimesis

American  

[mi-mee-sis, mahy-] / mɪˈmi sɪs, maɪ- /

noun

1. Rhetoric. imitation or reproduction of the supposed words of someone else, as in order to represent their character.

2. (in literature, film, art, etc.)

   1. imitation of the real world, as by re-creating instances of human action and events or portraying objects found in nature.

      This movie is a mimesis of historical events.

   2. the showing of a story, as by dialogue and enactment of events.

3. Biology. imitation.

4. Zoology. mimicry.

5. Pathology. Also

   1. the simulation, due to hysteria, of the symptoms of a disease.

   2. the simulation of the symptoms of one disease by another.

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mimesis British  

/ mɪˈmiːsɪs /

noun

1. art literature the imitative representation of nature or human behaviour

2. 1. any disease that shows symptoms of another disease

   2. a condition in a hysterical patient that mimics an organic disease

3. biology another name for mimicry

4. rhetoric representation of another person's alleged words in a speech

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Etymology

Origin of mimesis

First recorded in 1540–50; from Greek mī́mēsis “imitation,” equivalent to mīmē- (variant stem of mīmeîsthai “to copy”) + -sis noun suffix ( see -sis)

Explanation

Mimesis is the imitation of life in art and literature. You know your painting exhibits mimesis when the viewers try to pick the flowers from the canvas. You’ve probably heard that life imitates art. Well, when art imitates life, it’s mimesis. Originally a Greek word, meaning “imitation,” mimesis basically means a copycat, or a mimic. Mimesis might be found in a play with a realistic setting or in a particularly life-like statue. The word is also used in biology for a disease that shows characteristics of another illness. You can remember the definition of mimesis by thinking about a mime imitating an action.

Example Sentences

Issue 2 is also an exercise in mimesis.

From Los Angeles Times • May 26, 2021

In victory a kind of mimesis has begun.

From The Guardian • Sep. 19, 2018

Movies and TV shows often serve as mimesis machines, of course, fostering desires within viewers to replicate in their own lives what they see characters do and feel.

From Slate • Feb. 22, 2018

Though this wasn’t the only score of his that made listeners wonder whether he entertained ideas of representation, mimesis, evocation in his work, he — like Cunningham — kept quiet about these matters.

From New York Times • Jul. 20, 2016

In traversing the coil of the latter they reinforce or weaken the magnetism of the pole, and thus make the disc armature vibrate so as to give out a mimesis of the original voice.

From Heroes of the Telegraph by Munro, John

Related Words

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