mimicry

UK: /ˈmɪmɪkri/ US: /ˈmɪmɪkri/ ,(mim′ik rē)

Inflections of 'mimicry' (n): npl: mimicries

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025

mim•ic•ry /ˈmɪmɪkri/   n., pl. -ries. 

1. [uncountable] the act, practice, or art of mimicking.
2. Animal Behavior the close outside resemblance of one organism to a different organism:
   [uncountable] an insect's mimicry of a dead leaf.
3. [countable] an instance or result of mimicking.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

mim•ic•ry  (mim′ik rē), n., pl. -ries. 

1. the act, practice, or art of mimicking.
2. Animal Behavior [Biol.] the close external resemblance of an organism, the mimic, to some different organism, the model, such that the mimic benefits from the mistaken identity, as seeming to be unpalatable or harmful.
3. an instance, performance, or result of mimicking.

• mimic + -ry 1680–90

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

mimicry / ˈmɪmɪkrɪ/ noun ( -ries)

1. the act or art of copying or imitating closely; mimicking
2. the resemblance shown by one animal species, esp an insect, to another, which protects it from predators