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Mimesis is a term with an undeniably classical pedigree. Originally a Greek word, it has been used in aesthetic or artistic theory to refer to the attempt to imitate or reproduce reality since Plato and Aristotle. Mimesis is derived from the Greek verb mimeisthai, which means "to imitate" and which itself comes from mimos, meaning "mime." The English word mime also descends from mimos, as do mimic and mimicry. And what about mimeograph, the name of the duplicating machine that preceded the photocopier? We can't be absolutely certain what the folks at the A. B. Dick Company had in mind when they came up with Mimeograph (a trademark name that has since expired), but influence from mimos and its descendants certainly seems probable.
Examples of mimesis in a Sentence
Lee Sharrock,
Forbes,
19 Jan. 2025
Ever since George Wilson approached Daisy Buchanan with those coveralls on, that dirty rag in his hand, literature of the oil age has made petroleum into a mimesis of guilt and shame.
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Hazlitt,
21 Aug. 2024
Many works of hyperrealism call on old traditions of mimesis, among them anatomical wax models based on real carcasses, a technique dating to the 18th century.
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Joshua Glass,
New York Times,
20 Oct. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Mimesis.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mimesis. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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