mimetic

[ mi-met-ik, mahy- ]

adjective

1. characterized by, exhibiting, or of the nature of imitation or mimicry:

   mimetic gestures.

2. mimic or make-believe.

mimetic

/ mɪˈmɛtɪk /

adjective

1. of, resembling, or relating to mimesis or imitation, as in art, etc
2. biology of or exhibiting mimicry

Derived Forms

• miˈmetically, adverb

Other Words From

• mi·meti·cal·ly adverb
• nonmi·metic adjective
• nonmi·meti·cal·ly adverb
• unmi·metic adjective
• unmi·meti·cal·ly adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of mimetic¹

1625–35; < Greek mīmētikós imitative, equivalent to mīmē- ( mimesis ) + -tikos -tic

Example Sentences

Prince, a professor in Waterloo's Department of Chemical Engineering, utilized these human-tissue mimetic hydrogels to promote the growth of small-scale tumour replicas derived from donated tumour tissue.

From Science Daily

The tune was jaunty, full of the cantering rhythms and mimetic horn calls that fit a song about hunting.

From New York Times

At some level, it really, really means that this spoken system and even sign system that we do needs the mimetic system that we create when we gesture.

From Salon

But Magritte suggests that art is always mimetic, if not of the external world then at the very least of consciousness.

From Washington Post

The building block of the internet is a referential, signifying, mimetic, poetics.

From Los Angeles Times