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Origin and history of imitative

imitative(adj.)

"inclined to imitate or copy; intended or designed to imitate," 1580s, probably from imitate + -ive; or else from French imitatif, from Late Latin imitativus, from imitat-, stem of Latin imitari "to copy, portray" (from PIE root *aim- "to copy").

also from 1580s

Entries linking to imitative

imitate(v.)

"take example by, follow or attempt to copy in action or manner," 1530s, a back-formation from imitation or imitator, or else from Latin imitatus, past participle of imitari "to copy, portray" (see image (n.)). Related: Imitated; imitating. An Old English word for this was æfterhyrigan.

To counterfeit is to imitate exactly or as closely as possible, more often for a dishonest purpose ; to mimic is to imitate in sport or ridicule, as to mimic one's affectations in speech or carriage ; to ape is to imitate with servility. [Century Dictionary]
*aim-

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to copy." 

It might form all or part of: emulate; emulation; emulous; image; imaginary; imagination; imaginative; imagine; imago; imitable; imitate; imitative; imitator; inimitable.

It might also be the source of: Latin imago "image," aemulus "emulous," imitari "to copy, portray, imitate;" Hittite himma- "imitation, substitute."

-ive

word-forming element making adjectives from verbs, meaning "pertaining to, tending to; doing, serving to do," in some cases from Old French -if, but usually directly from Latin adjectival suffix -ivus (source also of Italian and Spanish -ivo). In some words borrowed from French at an early date it has been reduced to -y (as in hasty, tardy).

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    counterfeit
    c. 1300, countrefeten, "pretend to be," from countrefet (adj.), Old French contrefait "imitated" (Modern French contrefait), past participle of contrefaire "imitate," from contre- "against" (see contra-) + faire "to make, to do" (from Latin facere "to make, do," from PIE root *dh
    echoic
    1880; see echo (n.) + -ic. A word from the OED. Onomatopoeia, in addition to its awkwardness, has neither associative nor etymological application to words imitating sounds. It means word-making or word-coining and is strictly as applicable to Comte's altruisme as to cuckoo. Ech
    wah-wah
    1926, in jazz slang, in reference to the effect on brass instruments made by manipulating the mute; of imitative origin....call, ask, sermon, language;" Cree (Algonquian) wehwew "goose," Lenape (Algonquian) wava "snow goose," all probably of imitative...
    whoop
    mid-14c., houpen, partly imitative, partly from Old French huper, houper "to cry out, shout," also imitative....
    roar
    out, cry out with a full, loud, continued sound," from Old English rarian "roar, wail, lament, bellow, cry," probably of imitative...barks;" Lithuanian rieju, rieti "to scold;" Old Church Slavonic revo "I roar;" Latin raucus "hoarse," all alike probably imitative...
    squash
    "In some senses, however, perhaps partly or mainly of imitative origin" [OED]....English squ- words of more or less imitative origin sometimes have echoes in qu- : squelch/quelch, quag and obsolete squagen...
    flip-flop
    also flip flop, "plastic thong beach sandal," by 1970, imitative of the sound of walking in them....Flip-flap had been used in various senses, mostly echoic or imitative of a kind of loose flapping movement, since 1520s:...
    choice
    mid-14c., "that which is choice," from choice (adj.) blended with earlier chois (n.) "action of selecting" (c. 1300); "power of choosing" (early 14c.), "the person or thing chosen" (late 14c.), from Old French chois "one's choice; fact of having a choice" (12c., Modern French cho
    genuine
    1590s, "natural, not acquired," from Latin genuinus "native, natural, innate," from root of gignere "to beget, produce" (from PIE root *gene- "give birth, beget"), perhaps influenced in form by contrasting adulterinus "spurious." [An alternative etymology is from Latin genu "knee
    conceit
    late 14c., "a thought, a notion, that which is mentally conceived," from conceiven (see conceive) based on analogy of deceit/deceive and receipt/receive. The sense evolved from "something formed in the mind" to "fanciful or witty notion, ingenious thought" (1510s), to "vanity, ex

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