source: https://bbdeathz.tumblr.com/post/178519545544

1. the action of using someone or something as a model:

(人の行動などを)見習うこと; 模倣

e.g. a child learns to speak by imitation.

an act of imitating a person's speech or mannerisms, especially for comic effect:

(笑わせるために)まねすること; 人, 物まね

e.g. he attempted an atrocious imitation of my English accent.

Music the repetition of a phrase or melody in another part or voice, usually at a different pitch.

〘楽〙 模倣部

2. a thing intended to simulate or copy something else:

模倣, 模写したもの; 模造品, 偽造品

e.g. as modifier : an imitation diamond.

proverb copying someone or something is an implicit way of paying them a compliment.

late Middle English: from Latin imitatio(n-), from the verb imitari (see imitate).