mimesis

[ mi-mee-sis, mahy- ]

noun

1. Rhetoric. imitation or reproduction of the supposed words of someone else, as in order to represent their character.
2. (in literature, film, art, etc.)
   1. imitation of the real world, as by re-creating instances of human action and events or portraying objects found in nature:

      This movie is a mimesis of historical events.

   2. the showing of a story, as by dialogue and enactment of events. Compare diegesis ( def 1 ).
3. Biology. imitation ( def 5 ).
4. Zoology. mimicry ( def 2 ).
5. Also . Pathology.
   1. the simulation, due to hysteria, of the symptoms of a disease.
   2. the simulation of the symptoms of one disease by another.

mimesis

/ mɪˈmiːsɪs /

noun

1. art literature the imitative representation of nature or human behaviour
2. 1. any disease that shows symptoms of another disease
   2. a condition in a hysterical patient that mimics an organic disease
3. biology another name for mimicry
4. rhetoric representation of another person's alleged words in a speech

Word History and Origins

Origin of mimesis¹

First recorded in 1540–50; from Greek mī́mēsis “imitation,” equivalent to mīmē- (variant stem of mīmeîsthai “to copy”) + -sis noun suffix ( -sis )

Word History and Origins

Origin of mimesis¹

C16: from Greek, from mimeisthai to imitate

Example Sentences

Yet, at the same time, the emphasis on extreme mimesis highlights the artifice of the robot, how it is emphatically not-born.

From Popular-Science

In some instances, extreme mimesis of biological characteristics highlights the desire for a perfect copy, indistinguishable from the born original.

From Popular-Science

Never, never in my life before did I dream that dramatic art, poetry, and mimesis could attain to such ideal splendour.

From Project Gutenberg

The habit of this mimesis of the thing desired, is set up, and ritual begins.

From Project Gutenberg

This is the true mimesis—the re-creation or fresh creation of fictitious reality.

From Project Gutenberg

Even Plato, the supposed father of idealism, does not make the mimesis absolutely unreal.

From Project Gutenberg

Neither Plato nor Mr. Emerson recognizes any causative force in the mimesis.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• clone
• impersonation
• impression
• mimicry
• parody
• reflection
• replica
• reproduction