imitamur

Imitamur is a Latin verb form that translates roughly as “we imitate.” It is the first-person plural present form of the deponent verb imitari, meaning “to imitate” or “to copy.” Because imitari is deponent, its present tense forms are passive in appearance but active in meaning; therefore imitamur is typically rendered as “we imitate,” not “we are imitated.” The verb belongs to the first conjugation.

In use, imitari and its forms describe the act of following or copying another’s actions, models, or standards. The present form imitamur can occur in straightforward statements of ongoing imitation and, in some contexts, in exhortations that invite a group to imitate a model or example. While the form is most common in classical Latin prose and poetry, its functional sense—emulation, modeling, or replication—persists in Latin pedagogy and textual study.

Grammatical notes: as a deponent, imitari uses passive morphologies but conveys active meanings across tenses and moods. Related forms include other person-number combinations, such as imitaris for the second person singular, and corresponding forms in subordinate moods. The case of imitamur exemplifies how Latin deponent verbs operate: they look passive but carry active semantic content, allowing nuanced expression of imitation, emulation, or modeling within discourse.