▪ I. imitate, v.
(ˈɪmɪteɪt)
Also 7 imm-.
[f. L. imitāt-, ppl. stem of imitārī to copy, etc.]
1. trans. To do or try to do after the manner of; to follow the example of; to copy in action.
| 1534 More On the Passion Wks. 1346/1 He that so receiueth the bloude of hys redemer, that he will not yet imitate and follow his passion. 1600 E. Blount tr. Conestaggio 18 Beseeching the King to..imitate the example of his auncestors. 1668 Culpepper & Cole Barthol. Anat. i. xviii. 50 Spigelius whom Laurenbergius of Rostoch does faithfully imitate, has assigned other uses to these Capsulæ. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. I. 7 The Children imitating their Parents. 1781 Gibbon Decl. & F. xxviii. III. 75 note, In the form and disposition of his ten books of epistles, he imitated the younger Pliny. 1876 Mozley Univ. Serm. vii. (1877) 158 We are to imitate others so far as they possess moral qualities which are of general and common service. |
b. Sometimes with implication of incongruity or of specific purpose: To mimic, counterfeit.
| 1613 Purchas Pilgrimage (1614) 558 The Hyæna..will imitate humane voyce, and..having heard the name of some of the Shepheards will call him. 1660 F. Brooke tr. Le Blanc's Trav. 381 Of Apes and Monkies there are..that will imitate all they see. 1727 De Foe Syst. Magic i. iii. (1840) 76 It remains a question here, by what power..the magicians of Egypt..in short mimicked or imitated the miracles of Moses and Aaron. 1738 Swift Pol. Conversat. 73 Miss. (imitating Lady Answerall's Tone) Very pretty! |
† c. Said of undesigned similarity of action. Obs.
| 1601 R. Johnson Kingd. & Commw. (1603) 169 Herein it should seeme they immitate the opinion of the Stoikes. 1602 Patericke tr. Gentillet 77 The Paynims also imitated this of Moses his sacrifices, that they immolated the like beasts. |
† d. With inf.: To endeavour, make an attempt to do something. Obs. exc. dial.
| a 1626 Bacon (J.), We imitate and practise to make swifter motions than any out of your muskets. a 1825 Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Imitate, to attempt; to endeavour. Ex. A child, or a sick person ‘imitated to walk’. |
2. To make or produce a copy or representation of; to copy, reproduce.
| 1590 Spenser F.Q. ii. xii. 42 A place pickt out by choyce of best alyve, That natures worke by art can imitate. 1638 F. Junius Paint. of Ancients 19 Some Artificers..can imitate the workes of others most accurately. 1687 A. Lovell tr. Thevenot's Trav. 73 They do what they can to imitate the Galleasses of Venice. 1860 Tyndall Glac. ii. vii. 260 By such means it is possible to imitate the phenomena of the firmament. |
b. ‘To pursue the course of (a composition) so as to use parallel images and examples’ (J.).
| 1700 Dryden Fables Pref. (Globe) 496 The adventures of Ulysses in the Odysseis are imitated in the first six books of Virgil's æneis. a 1732 Gay (J.), For shame! what, imitate an ode! a 1832 Scott Frederick & Alice note, This tale is imitated, rather than translated, from a fragment. |
3. To be, become, or make oneself like; to assume the aspect or semblance of; to simulate: a. intentionally or consciously; b. unintentionally or unconsciously.
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 265 Red..Paints it selfe blacke, to imitate her brow. 1601 ― Twel. N. iii. iv. 418 For him I imitate. 1615 G. Sandys Trav. 7 In habite they imitate the Italians. 1654 Z. Coke Logick (1657) 138 The conclusion must imitate the more unworthy and weaker part that is premised. 1749 Fielding Tom Jones iv. xii, The diseases of the mind..imitate those of the body. 1839 Murchison Silur. Syst. i. xiv. 179 Where they may be seen in countless profusion, imitating in their outline, horse-shoes, rings, almonds, etc. Mod. A lath painted to imitate iron. |
Hence ˈimitated ppl. a.; ˈimitating vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Remedamiento, imitating. 1686 Plot Staffordsh. 284 This imitating quality..becomes involuntary. 1697 Dryden æneid x. 905 This hand appear'd a shining sword to wield, And that sustain'd an imitated shield. 1745 Eliza Heywood Fem. Spectator (1748) IV. 24 In this imitating age there will be few fond enough of vice to be out of the fashion. |
▪ II. † ˈimitate, n. Obs. rare.
[ad. L. imitāt-us an imitation, f. imitārī to imitate.]
An imitation.
| 1669 Gale Crt. Gentiles i. iii. i. 15 The Greek Rapsodies and Rapsodists, were but Satanic Imitates of the Hebrew Psalmodists. |