- copy
- copy n *reproduction, duplicate, carbon, carbon copy, transcript, facsimile, replicaAntonyms: originalcopy vb Copy, imitate, mimic, ape, mock mean to make something like an already existing thing in form, appearance, or obvious or salient characteristics.Copy implies duplication of an original and thereby as close a resemblance as is possible under the circumstances{
copy a letter
}{copy Da Vinci's "Mona Lisa"
}{copy the clothes of a fashionable designer
}{later examples of the Greek revival travestied the classic style rather than copied it— Amer. Guide Series: Mass.
}Imitate stresses following something as a pattern or model; it does not therefore preclude variations from the original; thus, a writer who imitates Keats may merely reecho enough of that poet's rhythms, images, or sentiments to produce poetry reminiscent of Keats. Imitate may imply emulation{she slept for hours in the daytime, imitating the cats— Stafford
}{imitated the example of his elders
}or it may imply representation in another medium{art imitates nature
}{the dramatist imitates life
}{the music imitates a storm
}or it may imply simulation{fabrics that imitate leather
}{their pots seemed to imitate leather vessels— Childe
}Mimic usually implies an exact copying, especially of a person's movements, gestures, voice, mannerisms, sometimes for the sake of making sport of them, but often with the intention of giving a lifelike representation of them{I am sure I repeat her words, though I cannot mimic either the voice or air with which they were spoken— Fielding
}The word sometimes suggests a counterfeiting clever enough to seem real; it therefore often implies the skill of an actor{I might mimic a passion that I do not feel, but I cannot mimic one that burns me like fire— Wilde
}{he learned to call wild turkeys with a piece of bone through which he was able to mimic the notes of the bird— Brooks
}Ape also implies close copying sometimes seriously, sometimes in the spirit of mimicry{in dress and habits, ape the Arabs around them— G. W. Murray
}Often it suggests an attempt to emulate what one admires and then may connote such failure of the attempt as is likely to subject one to contempt{clods aping their betters
}{the lower classes aped the rigid decorum of their "betters" with laughable results— Harrison Smith
}Mock commonly adds to mimic the implication of a derisive intent. It often distinctively suggests immediate repetition of the words or actions mimicked{mocked his teacher
}{the babbling echo mocks the hounds— Shak.
}{her shadow still glowered about ... as though ... to mock behind her back— Keats
}{she contended every point, objected to every request, shirked her work, fought with her sisters, mocked her mother— Mead
}Antonyms: originate
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
