Im'i-tā'tion, n.
n. [Lat. imitatio, Fr. imitation, Sp. imitación, It. imitazione.]
Sense 1. The act of imitating.
Poetry is an art of imitation, . . . that is to say, a representing, counterfeiting, or figuring forth. Sidney.
Sense 2. That which is made or produced as a copy; likeness; resemblance.
Both these arts are not only true imitations of nature, but of the best nature. Dryden.