Where does “imitation” come from?
imitation (Middle French) comes from Old French imitacion, from Latin imitatio, from Latin imitor, from Proto-Italic imā, from Proto-Indo-European h₂eym- — to copy, imitate.
Ancestry of “imitation”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Old French | imitacion | — |
| 2 | Latin | imitatio | imitation |
| 3 | Latin | imitor | I represent, express, portray; I imitate, act... |
| 4 | Proto-Italic | imā | copy |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂eym- | to copy, imitate |