Webster
✕

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Imitation

Im′i·ta′tion (ĭm′ĭ·tā′shŭn), n. [L. imitatio: cf. F. imitation.] 1. The act of imitating.

Poesy is an art of imitation, . . . that is to say, a representing, counterfeiting, or figuring forth. Sir P. Sidney.

2. That which is made or produced as a copy; that which is made to resemble something else, whether for laudable or for fraudulent purposes; likeness; resemblance.

Both these arts are not only true imitations of nature, but of the best nature. Dryden.

3. (Mus.) One of the principal means of securing unity and consistency in polyphonic composition; the repetition of essentially the same melodic theme, phrase, or motive, on different degrees of pitch, by one or more of the other parts of voises. Cf. Canon.

4. (Biol.) The act of condition of imitating another species of animal, or a plant, or unanimate object. See Imitate, v. t., 3.

☞ Imitation is often used adjectively to characterize things which have a deceptive appearance, simulating the qualities of a superior article; — opposed to real or genuine; as, imitation lace; imitation bronze; imitation modesty, etc.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty. Of the others, 1,362 (a word or a single letter each) were inferred by AI from the context by the dictionary’s own rules and are marked with a wavy underline (tap or point at one to see the note); the rest, which could not be inferred with confidence, are left as “?”.