Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To copy or imitate closely, especially in speech, expression, and gesture.
  • transitive verb To copy or imitate so as to ridicule; mock: synonym: imitate.
  • transitive verb To reproduce or simulate.
  • transitive verb To resemble by biological mimicry.
  • transitive verb To have a similar structure, action, or effect as.
  • transitive verb To produce symptoms like those of (a disease).
  • transitive verb To produce (symptoms) like those produced by a different disease.
  • noun One that imitates, especially.
  • noun One who copies or mimics others, as for amusement.
  • noun One who practices the art of mime.
  • noun An organism that resembles another by mimicry.
  • noun A chemical having a structure, action, or effect like that of another.
  • noun A disease or disorder producing symptoms like those of another.
  • adjective Relating to or characteristic of a mimic or mimicry.
  • adjective Make-believe; mock.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To act in imitation of; simulate a likeness to; imitate or copy in speech or action, either mockingly or seriously.
  • To produce an imitation of; make something similar or corresponding to; copy in form, character, or quality.
  • Specifically, in zoology and botany, to imitate, simulate, or resemble (something else) in form, color, or other characteristic; assume the character or appearance of (some other object). See mimicry, 3.
  • Acting as a mime; given to or practising imitation; imitative: as, a mimic actor.
  • Pertaining to mimicry or imitation; exhibiting, characterized by, or employed in simulation or mimicry; mimicking; simulating: as, the mimic stage; mimic action or gestures.
  • Consisting of or resulting from imitation; simulated; mock: often implying a copy or imitation: as, a mimic battle; the mimic royalty of the stage.
  • noun One who or that which imitates or mimics; specifically, an actor.
  • noun An imitation; anything copied from or made in imitation of something else.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Imitative; mimetic.
  • adjective Consisting of, or formed by, imitation; imitated.
  • adjective (Min.) Imitative; characterized by resemblance to other forms; -- applied to crystals which by twinning resemble simple forms of a higher grade of symmetry.
  • adjective (Zoöl.) a beetle that feigns death when disturbed, esp. the species of Hister and allied genera.
  • transitive verb To imitate or ape for sport; to ridicule by imitation.
  • transitive verb (Biol.) To assume a resemblance to (some other organism of a totally different nature, or some surrounding object), as a means of protection or advantage.
  • noun One who imitates or mimics, especially one who does so for sport; a copyist; a buffoon.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb to imitate, especially in order to ridicule
  • verb biology to take on the appearance of another, for protection or camouflage
  • noun a person who practices mimicry, or mime
  • adjective Pertaining to mimicry; imitative.
  • adjective Mock, pretended.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective constituting an imitation
  • noun someone who mimics (especially an actor or actress)
  • verb imitate (a person or manner), especially for satirical effect

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Latin mīmicus, mimic, from Greek mīmikos, from mīmos, imitator, mime.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin mimicus, from Ancient Greek μιμικός (mimikos, "belonging to mimes"), from μῖμος (mimos, "imitator, actor"); see mime.

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Examples

  • For an hour she crouched on the floor, listening to the heavy voices of the men rumbling up and down in mimic thunder.

    The Wife of a King 2010

  • For an hour she crouched on the floor, listening to the heavy voices of the men rumbling up and down in mimic thunder.

    The Wife of a King 2010

  • And, if you continue in the chapter you find that the natural selection this would mimic is credited for the advance of superior nations like the United States, and that the high quality people in Canada are those coming from western Europe.

    Cue outrage in three, two, one… 2007

  • He sat there gazing right and left and amusing himself with watching the merchants and passers-by, and as he was thus engaged behold, there came into the bazar a Persian riding on a she-mule and carrying behind him a damsel; as she were argent of alloy free or a fish Balti447 in mimic sea or a doe-gazelle on desert lea.

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night 2006

  • A clink of lunch-pails swinging as they clash in mimic fray,

    Fires of Driftwood 1922

  • Alongside the plodders skipped and ran, rushed back and forth the younger, frivolous characters, kicking up their heels, biting at one another, or lowering their horns in short mimic charges -- gay, animated flankers to the main army.

    The Leopard Woman Stewart Edward White 1909

  • For an hour she crouched on the floor, listening to the heavy voices of the men rumbling up and down in mimic thunder.

    The Wife of the King 1900

  • A type of Him who was the great sin-bearer, not in mimic show as Ezekiel, but in reality

    Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible 1871

  • Whatever way it worked, the final result was a machine intelligence that could reproduce - some philosophers still preferred to use the word "mimic" - most of the activities of the human brain - and with far greater speed and reliability.

    2001 A Space Odyssey Clarke, Arthur C. 1968

  • This mimic is Japanese-style to his very handles;] abu

    Mimic Papercraft | Papercraft Paradise | PaperCrafts | Paper Models | Card Models Michael James 2008

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