imitative

Imitative is an adjective describing something that imitates or is derived from imitation. It comes from Latin imitativus, from imitari, to imitate. In everyday use, it can refer to efforts to reproduce or echo another style, work, or behavior.

In the arts, imitative works reproduce features of earlier periods, traditions, or other artists. Critics distinguish between originality and imitativeness. In music, imitative counterpoint occurs when one voice restates a motif after another voice, a device central to fugues and canons.

In linguistics, imitative devices include echoic or onomatopoeic words that imitate sounds, such as buzz, splash, or meow. Imitation also appears in ideophones—words that evoke sensory qualities—and in reduplication, a common mechanism for intensification or plurality in many languages.

In psychology and biology, imitation is a form of social learning, and imitative behavior describes actions copied from others, including animal mimicry in some species.

See also imitation, mimicry, onomatopoeia.