different between mimic vs dumbness

English

Alternative forms

• mimick

Etymology

From Latin m?micus, from Ancient Greek ??????? (m?mikós, “belonging to mimes”), from ????? (mîmos, “imitator, actor”); see mime.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?m.?k/
• Rhymes: -?m?k

Verb

mimic (third-person singular simple present mimics, present participle mimicking, simple past and past participle mimicked)

1. To imitate, especially in order to ridicule.
2. (biology) To take on the appearance of another, for protection or camouflage.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:imitate

Translations

Noun

mimic (plural mimics)

1. A person who practices mimicry, or mime.
2. An imitation.

Translations

Adjective

mimic (not comparable)

1. Pertaining to mimicry; imitative.
   • 1800, William Wordsworth, There was a Boy

     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.

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.

Related terms

• mime
• mimicable
• mimicry

Further reading

• mimic in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• mimic in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Romanian

Etymology

From French mimique

Adjective

mimic m or n (feminine singular mimic?, masculine plural mimici, feminine and neuter plural mimice)

1. mimic

Declension

English

Etymology

From Middle English dombenesse, from Old English dumbnes; equivalent to dumb +? -ness. Cognate with Old Frisian dumbnisse (“folly, dumbness”).

Noun

dumbness (usually uncountable, plural dumbnesses)

1. The state of being dumb or mute: that is, of not communicating vocally, whether from selective mutism (refusal to speak) or from an inability to speak.
   • 1944, Emily Carr, The House of All Sorts, "Sissy's Job," [1]

     He was a deaf-mute. His dumbness did not seem to matter when we were boys.

2. Muteness, silence; abstention from speech.
   • 1611 Shakespeare, William [first known show: 15 May 1611; posthumous publication: 1623], Winter's Tale, Act 5, Scene 2:

     There was speech in their dumbness.

3. Show or gesture without words; pantomime; dumb-show.
   • 1623 Shakespeare, William [posthumous publication], Timon of Athens, Act 1, Scene 1:

     To the dumbness of the gesture one might interpret.

4. (informal) The quality of being stupid or foolish.

Related terms

• dumb
• dumb-show

Translations