Skip to main content
replicator

replicator

18 8.1
Something like a gene or idea that is copied and passed on
  • noun
  • /ˈrɛplɪˌkeɪtər/
  • Specialized
translation icon : replicador
  • a cultural replicator

And and those replicators have consequence, material consequence in the universe.

Examples

  • First, natural selection operates on a number of different kinds of replicators.

    Academic text (2001)
  • The replicators that form the basis of a language in use, then, are not utterances only.

    Academic text (2001)
  • In his 1976 book The Selfish Gene, Richard Dawkins proposed a cultural replicator.

    Academic text (1999)
  • At the end of his book, however, Dawkins argued that there are other replicators, namely, cultural replicators that are transmitted by imitation.

    Academic text (2001)
  • Dawkins proposed the meme as a "unit of cultural transmission," a self-perpetuating cultural phenomenon analogous to the gene as a replicator of biological data.

    Blog text (25)
  • For example, suppose the disposition selectively to imitate the behaviors of one's conspecifics depends on specific genes that are themselves replicators subject to selection.

    Academic text (2001)
  • The scientist studied the replicators that spread genetic information in the population.

  • In our discussion, we explored how cultural replicators influence the way ideas are shared.

  • Researchers are investigating replicators to understand how they affect evolutionary processes.

Synonyms

replica
vsreplicator
82 3.6

A close copy of something real, often a famous object or work of art

is the original item that gets copied and transmitted during replication
replicant
vsreplicator
1 9.1

An exact copy of an object or person

is the original entity that gets copied and transmitted during replication

Antonyms

2.8

Not a copy and existing as the first form

How Widely Copied

meme
  • Specialized
50 3.9
norm
187 3.7
replicator
  • Specialized
18 8.1
trait
226 3.5
idiosyncrasy
12 8.3

Surface Forms

replicator singular
replicators plural

Morphology

replicator = replicate (semi-transparent) = replicate + or

Morphologically a direct agent/nominal formation from the verb 'replicate' using '-or'.

Etymology

The word replicator comes from the Latin verb replicare, which means 'to repeat' and is the same root as replica, a 'copy'. So a replicator can be any thing that is copied and passed on, such as a gene or a cultural idea like a meme.