mimic

Etymology

From Latin mīmicus, from Ancient Greek μῑμικός (mīmikós, “belonging to mimes”), from μῖμος (mîmos, “imitator, actor”); see mime.

verb

1. To imitate, especially in order to ridicule.
   An artificial kidney these days still means a refrigerator-sized dialysis machine. Such devices mimic the way real kidneys cleanse blood and eject impurities and surplus water as urine. 2013-06-01, “A better waterworks”, in The Economist, volume 407, number 8838, page 5 (Technology Quarterly)
2. (biology) To take on the appearance of another, for protection or camouflage.

noun

1. A person who practices mimicry; especially:
   1. A mime.
   2. A comic who does impressions.
2. An entity that mimics another entity, such as a disease that resembles another disease in its signs and symptoms; see the great imitator.
3. An imitation.
   Jess jumped slightly at hearing Tillyʼs extremely accurate mimic of her voice. 2005, Helen Oyeyemi, The Icarus Girl, Bloomsbury, page 190

adj

1. Pertaining to mimicry; imitative.
   And there, with fingers interwoven, both hands Pressed closely palm to palm and to his mouth Uplifted, he, as through an instrument, Blew mimic hootings to the silent owls, That they might answer him. 1800, William Wordsworth, There was a Boy
2. Mock, pretended.
3. (mineralogy) Imitative; characterized by resemblance to other forms; applied to crystals which by twinning resemble simple forms of a higher grade of symmetry.