Library / English Dictionary

IMITATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Make a reproduction or copy of

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "imitate" is one way to...):

copy; re-create (make a replica of)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

imitative (not genuine; imitating something superior)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Reproduce someone's behavior or looks

Example:

Children often copy their parents or older siblings

Synonyms:

copy; imitate; simulate

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "imitate" is one way to...):

reproduce (make a copy or equivalent of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "imitate"):

conform to; follow (behave in accordance or in agreement with)

mock (imitate with mockery and derision)

take off (mimic or imitate in an amusing or satirical manner)

mime; mimic (imitate (a person or manner), especially for satirical effect)

model; pattern (plan or create according to a model or models)

follow; take after (imitate in behavior; take as a model)

emulate (strive to equal or match, especially by imitating)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

imitation (copying (or trying to copy) the actions of someone else)

imitative (marked by or given to imitation)

imitator (someone who copies the words or behavior of another)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Appear like, as in behavior or appearance

Example:

Life imitate art

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "imitate" is one way to...):

resemble (appear like; be similar or bear a likeness to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "imitate"):

ape (imitate uncritically and in every aspect)

emulate (imitate the function of (another system), as by modifying the hardware or the software)

follow suit (do what someone else is doing)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Credits

 Context examples: 

I rather enjoy this, and now I'll imitate what is called 'a charming girl'.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

Her eldest daughter had great personal beauty, and the younger ones, by pretending to be as handsome as their sister, imitating her air, and dressing in the same style, did very well.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

We give nutrients back to the planet, so we're imitating nature with a process that's completely natural, says Paulo Schmidt, adviser for renewable energy at Itaipu Binacional.

(Biomethane rises as alternate source of energy in Brazil, Agência Brasil)

"Bosco! He eats 'em alive! Eats 'em alive!" Brissenden exclaimed, imitating the spieler of a locally famous snake-eater.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

This resolution perhaps may appear very bold and dangerous, and I am confident would not be imitated by any prince in Europe on the like occasion.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

They learn to talk by imitating the sounds around them and the voices of their parents and caregivers.

(Hearing Problems in Children, NIH: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders)

I have tried to imitate here Lord Roxton's jerky talk, his short, strong sentences, the half-humorous, half-reckless tone that ran through it all.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Did I imitate your forbearance, or lessen your restraints, by taking any part in those offices of general complaisance or particular gratitude which you had hitherto been left to discharge alone?

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)

It had been settled in the evening between the aunt and the niece, that such a striking civility as Miss Darcy's in coming to see them on the very day of her arrival at Pemberley, for she had reached it only to a late breakfast, ought to be imitated, though it could not be equalled, by some exertion of politeness on their side; and, consequently, that it would be highly expedient to wait on her at Pemberley the following morning.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Gotanda found that finches on islands with predators were wary, and flew away from an approaching researcher - imitating an approaching predator - at a much greater distance than the finches on pristine islands without predators.

(A decade after the predators have gone, Galapagos Island finches are still being spooked, University of Cambridge)