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

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old Frenchimitacion—
2Latinimitatioimitation
3LatinimitorI represent, express, portray; I imitate, act...
4Proto-Italicimācopy
5Proto-Indo-Europeanh₂eym-to copy, imitate

Words derived from “imitation”

Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₂eym- →Every word from Proto-Italic imā →Every word from Latin imitor →