simulation
[sim-yuh-ley-shuh n]
- imitation or enactment, as of something anticipated or in testing.
- the act or process of pretending; feigning.
- an assumption or imitation of a particular appearance or form; counterfeit; sham.
- Psychiatry. a conscious attempt to feign some mental or physical disorder to escape punishment or to gain a desired objective.
- the representation of the behavior or characteristics of one system through the use of another system, especially a computer program designed for the purpose.
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Origin of simulation
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Related Words
reproduction, likeness, reflection, image, duplicate, replica, counterfeit, fake, facsimile, copy, clone, match, sham, duplication, mirroring, parallelingExamples from the Web for simulation
Contemporary Examples
It was unpleasant and discombobulating: a simulation of hostage-taking, mental asylum and demented dreamscape all rolled into one.
Of course, the fact that Tris faces and eviscerates her own anxiety lends the simulation scene a veneer of victory and autonomy.
Like its strange predecessor, the first kiss scene, this simulation nightmare strikes a false note.
It crashed after a simulation in which just a few hundred people tried to log on simultaneously.
In the simulation, there were multiple attackers, including a truck bomb, suicide bombers and the home-made bombs known as IEDs.
Historical Examples
One of its most deadly weapons is fatigue, or the simulation of fatigue.
The Conquest of FearBasil King
In line with this, a simulation of the military is a favorite device.
The Dramatic Values in PlautusWilton Wallace Blancke
The simulation of death, therefore, implies a certain knowledge of death.
The Glow-Worm and Other BeetlesJean Henri Fabre
The Italian did not overrate that craft of simulation proverbial with her country and her sex.
ZanoniEdward Bulwer Lytton
"They were bad enough," he said, with a simulation of shame.
The Folly Of EustaceRobert S. Hichens
simulation
- the act or an instance of simulating
- the assumption of a false appearance or form
- a representation of a problem, situation, etc, in mathematical terms, esp using a computer
- maths statistics computing the construction of a mathematical model for some process, situation, etc, in order to estimate its characteristics or solve problems about it probabilistically in terms of the model
- psychiatry the conscious process of feigning illness in order to gain some particular end; malingering
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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 simulation
n.
mid-14c., "a false show, false profession," from Old French simulation "pretence" and directly from Latin simulationem (nominative simulatio) "an imitating, feigning, false show, hypocrisy," noun of action from past participle stem of simulare "imitate," from stem of similis "like" (see similar). Meaning "a model or mock-up for purposes of experiment or training" is from 1954.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
simulation
(sĭm′yə-lā′shən)- Close resemblance or imitation, as of one symptom or disease by another.
- Assumption of a false appearance.
- Reproduction or representation, as of a potential situation or in experimental testing.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.