Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English homepage

Date: 1500-1600
Language: Latin
Origin: , past participle of imitari

imitate

 verb
     
im‧i‧tate [transitive]
1 to copy the way someone behaves, speaks, moves etc, especially in order to make people laugh:
She was a splendid mimic and loved to imitate Winston Churchill.
! Do not use imitate when you mean to do the same thing as someone else. Use copy instead: She worries that Tom will copy his brother and leave home (NOT She worries that he will imitate his brother).
2 to copy something because you think it is good:
vegetarian products which imitate meat
The Japanese have no wish to imitate Western social customs and attitudes.
—imitator noun [countable]
Definition from the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
Advanced Learner's Dictionary.

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