Where does “mimic” come from?

Mimic comes from Latin mimicus, from Ancient Greek μιμικός, from Ancient Greek μῖμος, meaning an imitator or actor.

mimic (English): To imitate, especially in order to ridicule; To...

Definitions

  1. To imitate, especially in order to ridicule; To...

Ancestry of “mimic”, step by step

mimic traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Latin mimicus

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Latinmimicusmimic; farcical
2Ancient Greekμιμικόςbelonging to mimes
3Ancient Greek-ικόςof or pertaining to, in the manner of; -ic
4Ancient Greek-κόςforms adjectives with the sense of 'of or...
5Proto-Indo-European-ḱos-y, -ic

via French mimique

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Frenchmimiquemimical

Words derived from “mimic”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European -ḱos →Every word from Ancient Greek -ικός →Every word from Ancient Greek -κός →