imitator

im·i·tate

(ĭm′ĭ-tāt′)

tr.v. im·i·tat·ed, im·i·tat·ing, im·i·tates

1. To use or follow as a model: Your brother imitates you because he admires you.

a. To copy the mannerisms or speech of; mimic: amused her friends by imitating the teachers.

b. To copy (mannerisms or speech): Can you imitate his accent?

3. To copy exactly; reproduce: "drugs that can imitate the hormone's positive effects while reducing its adverse effects" (The Scientist).

4. To appear like; resemble: a fishing lure that imitates a minnow.

[Latin imitārī, imitāt-; see aim- in Indo-European roots.]

im′i·ta′tor n.

Synonyms: imitate, copy, mimic, ape, parody, simulate
These verbs mean to follow something or someone taken as a model. To imitate is to act like or follow a pattern or style set by another: "The Blue Jay is ... a renowned vocal mimic, with the uncanny ability to imitate hawk calls" (Marie Read).
To copy is to duplicate an original as precisely as possible: "His grandfather had spent a laborious life-time in Rome, copying the Old Masters for a generation which lacked the facile resource of the camera" (Edith Wharton).
To mimic is to make a close imitation, often to ridicule: "[He] mimicked the vacuum salesman as he explained his attachments, clearing his throat before each sentence, twisting the phantom hose" (Deirdre McNamer).
To ape is to follow another's lead, often with an absurd result: "Those [superior] states of mind do not come from aping an alien culture" (John Russell).
To parody is either to imitate comically or to attempt a serious imitation and fail: "All these peculiarities [of Samuel Johnson's literary style] have been imitated by his admirers and parodied by his assailants" (Thomas Macaulay).
To simulate is to replicate something's appearance or character: "An ecological community can sometimes simulate the intricate harmony of a single organism" (Richard Dawkins).

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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Noun	1.	imitator - someone who (fraudulently) assumes the appearance of another impersonator beguiler, cheater, deceiver, trickster, slicker, cheat - someone who leads you to believe something that is not true mimic, mimicker - someone who mimics (especially an actor or actress)
	2.	imitator - someone who copies the words or behavior of another aper, copycat, emulator, ape individual, mortal, person, somebody, someone, soul - a human being; "there was too much for one person to do" epigon, epigone - an inferior imitator of some distinguished writer or artist of musician parrot - a copycat who does not understand the words or acts being imitated

imitator

noun impersonator, mimic, impressionist, copycat, echo, follower, parrot (informal), copier, carbon copy (informal) a group of Elvis imitators

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

imitator

noun

One who mindlessly imitates another:

echo, mimic, parrot.

Translations

مُقَلِّد

imitátor

efterlignerimitator

eftirherma

etteraper etterlikner imitator

imitátor

taklit yapan kimsetaklitçi

模仿者

imitator

[ˈɪmɪteɪtəʳ] N → imitador(a) m/f

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

imitator

[ˈɪmɪteɪtə^r] n → imitateur/trice m/f

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

imitator

n → Nachahmer(in) m(f), → Imitator(in) m(f)

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

imitator

[ˈɪmɪˌteɪtəʳ] n → imitatore/trice

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

imitate

(ˈimiteit) verb

to (try to) be, behave or look the same as (a person etc). Children imitate their friends rather than their parents; He could imitate the song of many different birds.

ˌimiˈtation noun

1. the act of imitating. Children learn how to speak by imitation.

2. a copy. an imitation of an ancient statue.

adjective

made to look like something else. imitation wood.

ˈimitative (-tətiv) adjective

ˈimitativeness noun

ˈimitator noun

a person who imitates.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

I would not be here understood to insinuate, that the greatest merit of such historical productions can ever lie in these introductory chapters; but, in fact, those parts which contain mere narrative only, afford much more encouragement to the pen of an imitator, than those which are composed of observation and reflection.

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So that from one point of view, Sophocles is an imitator of the same kind as Homer--for both imitate higher types of character; from another point of view, of the same kind as Aristophanes--for both imitate persons acting and doing.

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Being at my wits' end for want of money, and seeing what audiences Mathews drew, the idea occurred to me of starting an imitation of the great Imitator himself, in the shape of an "At Home," given by a woman.

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He was not even a good imitator. He possessed all the disposition to deceive, but wanted the power.

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Poetry is discovered to be an imitation thrice removed from the truth, and Homer, as well as the dramatic poets, having been condemned as an imitator, is sent into banishment along with them.

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Humble with the proud, haughty with the humble, encounterer of dangers, endurer of outrages, enamoured without reason, imitator of the good, scourge of the wicked, enemy of the mean, in short, knight-errant, which is all that can be said!"

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'She's a true Nickleby--a worthy imitator of her old uncle Ralph--she hangs back to be more sought after--so does he; nothing to be got out of Ralph unless you follow him up, and then the money comes doubly welcome, and the bargain doubly hard, for you're impatient and he isn't.

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Phaedrus, the great imitator of Aesop, plainly indicates this double purpose to be the true office of the writer of fables.

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Now, a real German invariably prints in the Latin character, so that we may safely say that this was not written by one, but by a clumsy imitator who overdid his part.

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"This more reverent title had previously been forced upon him by the religious scruples of the last newspaper in which a part of the work had appeared, with the natural consequence that when it came out in covers the country already had been flooded by its imitators with a score of 'cynic' books -- The Cynic's This , The Cynic's That , and

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"I have known of you for a long time: first from your action with regard to your serfs, a first example, of which it is very desirable that there should be more imitators; and secondly because you are one of those gentlemen of the chamber who have not considered themselves offended by the new decree concerning the ranks allotted to courtiers, which is causing so much gossip and tittle-tattle."

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In less than two years from its erection, he had the pleasure of standing on the elevated platform, and of looking down on three humble imitators of its beauty.