imitate
/ˈɪmɪteɪt/
imitate verb: to follow as a model or a pattern; to make a copy, counterpart or semblance of.
Verb
imitate (third-person singular simple present imitates, present participle imitating, simple past and past participle imitated)
- To follow as a model or a pattern; to make a copy, counterpart or semblance of.
- Another bird quickly learned to imitate the song of a canary that was mated with it, but as the parrakeet improved in the performance the canary degenerated, and came at last to mingle the other bird's harsh chitterings with its own proper music.1870, Shirley Hibberd, Rustic Adornments for Homes of Taste, page 170
- A wave simulator in the tank can re-enact tsunamis and northeasters, and imitate wave conditions from midocean.2007 February 20, Tina Kelley, “A Wet Wind Tunnel So Ships Can Move Faster and Better”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 18 Dec 2022
imitate meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
imitate in Hindi
- to follow as a model
- अनुकृति करना anukŕti karnā, अनुकरण करना anukraṇ karnā
imitate in Tamil
- மற்றொருவரைப் போன்று நடி, கண்டுசெய், கண்டுபாவி, பாவி, பின்பற்று
imitate in Marathi
- अनुकरण करणे, अनुकरण करा
imitate in Urdu
- to imitate
- اتارنا utārnā
More languagesFewer languages
- imitate in Bengali
- অনুকরণ করা, নকল করা, অনুসরণ করা
- imitate in Telugu
- అనుకరించు anukariñcu
- imitate in Malayalam
- പകർത്തുക pakaṟttuka
- imitate in Kannada
- ಅಣಕಿಸು, ಹಾಗೇ ಮಾಡು
- imitate in Gujarati
- અનુકરણ કરો, અનુકરણ કરવું
- imitate in Odia
- ଅନୁକରଣ କରିବା, ଅନୁକରଣ କରନ୍ତୁ
- imitate in Arabic
- قَلَّدَ qallada
- imitate in Malay
- tiru
- imitate in Thai
- เลียน liian, เลียนแบบ liian-bɛ̀ɛp
- imitate in Vietnamese
- nhái, bắt chước, theo đòi
Examples of imitate in a sentence
- We don't want to blaze a trail when we can imitate something that has already been done.
- The irregular back-and-forth flutter of this fishing lure imitates the movement of an injured or sick fish.
- "Bouba" and "Kiki" are sound-symbolic labels, not directly imitating any actual sound but nonetheless carrying strong intrinsic associations with roundness and pointiness, respectively.
Synonyms of imitate
Antonyms
Forms of imitate
| third-person singular present | imitates |
|---|---|
| present participle | imitating |
| past participle | imitated |
| past | imitated |
Origin of imitate
Borrowed from Latin imitātus, perfect active participle of imitor (“to copy, portray, imitate”), see -ate (verb-forming suffix). Cognate with French imiter.
Words formed from imitate
Questions about imitate
- What does imitate mean?
- Imitate means to follow as a model or a pattern; to make a copy, counterpart or semblance of.
- What is imitate in Hindi?
- Imitate in Hindi is अनुकृति करना (anukŕti karnā), अनुकरण करना (anukraṇ karnā). See Imitate meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is imitate?
- Imitate is a verb.
- How do you pronounce imitate?
- Imitate is pronounced /ˈɪmɪteɪt/ (US).
- What is the past tense of imitate?
- The past tense of imitate is imitated.
Words near imitate in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: imitate (page history and authors); imitate (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); imitate (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); اتارنا (Urdu) (page history and authors); Imitate (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); പകർത്തുക (Malayalam) (page history and authors); imitate (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); imitate (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); imitate (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-imitate.ogg.
Cite this entry: “imitate.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/imitate. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.