different between mimic vs mimicking

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

Verb

mimicking

1. present participle of mimic

Noun

mimicking (countable and uncountable, plural mimickings)

1. mimicry
   • 1828, Washington Irving, A History of the Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus

     They had a thousand odd stories and jokes about the events of the day, and burlesque descriptions and mimickings of the spectators who had been admiring them.