Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • transitive verb To have or take on the appearance, sound, or character of; imitate: synonym: imitate.
  • transitive verb To make in imitation of or as a substitute for.
  • transitive verb To make a pretense of; feign.
  • transitive verb To create a representation or model of (a physical system or particular situation, for example).

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To assume the appearance of, without having the reality; feign; counterfeit; pretend.
  • To act the part of; imitate; be like; resemble.
  • Specifically— In phonology, to imitate in form. See simulation, 2.
  • In biology, to imitate or mimic; resemble by way of protective mimicry: as, some insects simulate flowers or leaves. See mimicry, 3.
  • Feigned; pretended.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • transitive verb To assume the mere appearance of, without the reality; to assume the signs or indications of, falsely; to counterfeit; to feign.
  • adjective Feigned; pretended.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • verb To model, replicate, duplicate the behavior, appearance or properties of

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • verb make a pretence of
  • verb create a representation or model of
  • verb reproduce someone's behavior or looks

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin simulāre, simulāt-, from similis, like; see similar.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin simulatus, past participle of simulare ("to make like, imitate, copy, represent, feign"), from similis ("like"); see similar.

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