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Glite Dictionary
🦎 Imitation for safety 🎨 Imitation in art 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Copying behavior
mimetism

mimetism

9.8
A way animals or plants copy other living things to avoid being eaten
  • noun
  • /ˈmɪmətɪzəm/
  • Specialized
translation icon : mimetismo
  • The stick insect uses mimetism to blend in with twigs and avoid being eaten by birds.

Examples

  • The octopus exhibits mimetism by changing its skin texture and color to imitate the ocean floor.

  • Many animals employ mimetism as a survival strategy by resembling the colors and patterns of their surroundings.

  • Positive Mimetism

    Academic text (1995)

Synonyms

imitation
vsmimetism
19 3.0

Copying another person's actions or speech to learn from them

is specific to organisms and often used for predator protection
mimicry
vsmimetism
  • Specialized
1 6.1

A creature that looks like another animal, plant, or object to avoid being eaten

is the broader biological phenomenon of organisms resembling others beyond physical traits
mimesis
vsmimetism
  • Literature
1 9.9

Making art that copies real life or someone's words

is biological copying used mainly for protection from predators

Surface Forms

mimetism singular
mimetisms plural

Morphology

mimetism = mimic (semi-transparent) = mimet + ism

The noun is formed from a Greek-based combining form related to 'mimic' plus '-ism'; the relation to 'mimic' is clear but the term is somewhat technical in biology and not a common everyday formation for learners.

Etymology

Mimetism comes from the root mim- meaning 'to copy', the same root you see in mimic and mime. Many animals copy the look of leaves or dangerous species so they are not eaten, so in biology mimetism means copying others for protection.