mimicus Latin · revision 34158

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=81–43 BC, Cicero|origins=grc μιμικός}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * Classical: [ˈmiː.mɪ.kʊs]^(Wiktionary)

+ * Ecclesiastical: [ˈmiː.mi.kus]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mīmicus''' (feminine mīmica, neuter mīmicum); first/second-declension adjective^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|grc|μιμικός|tr=mīmikós|t=of or for mimes]],^(OLD 2012)^(Wiktionary)^(DMLBS) from [[m|grc|μῖμος|tr=mîmos|t=mime]].^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Its earliest quotation in the OLD is from Cicero, who warns that a joke should not be ''scurrilis'' or ''mimicus'', like a buffoon's or a mime's.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It first means belonging to or typical of a [[m|en|mime]] or farce,^(OLD 2012) and Quintilian and Seneca use it so.^(Georges 1913)^(Conte 2010) As a noun it is a writer of mimes in Volcacius Sedigitus.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010) Things represented in a mime are not real, so it came to mean sham, empty or feigned:^(OLD 2012) Seneca the Elder speaks of ''mimicae nuptiae'', a mock wedding,^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913) Petronius of a ''mimica mors'', a pretended death,^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010) and Pliny the Younger of things ''mimicae et ineptae'', “farcical and silly”.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010) Cicero also uses it of a comic actress's stage name.^(OLD 2012) Medieval writers in Britain use it of histrionic arts, and in the 15th century as a noun for an actor.^(DMLBS) English [[m|en|mimic]] comes from it, first recorded in the 1580s.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 81–43 BC – Cicero uses it of jokes like a mime's.^(OLD 2012)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * before 66 AD – Petronius has ''mimica mors''.^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian uses it of mime-like style.^(Georges 1913)^(Köbler 2010)

+ * 1494 – A record from New Romney uses ''mimici'' of actors.^(DMLBS)

+ * 1580s – English [[m|en|mimic|alt=mimic]] is first recorded.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # Belonging to or typical of a mime or [[m|en|farce]], farcical.^(OLD 2012)^(Lewis & Short 1879)^(Conte 2010)

+ # Represented in a mime; hence [[m|en|sham|alt=sham]], empty, [[m|en|feigned]].^(OLD 2012)^(Georges 1913)^(Lewis & Short 1879)

+ # Belonging to a comic actor or actress.^(OLD 2012)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' [[m|en|histrionic|alt=Histrionic]].^(DMLBS)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A writer of mimes.^(OLD 2012)^(Conte 2010)

+ # ''(Medieval Latin)'' An [[m|en|actor]].^(DMLBS)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mīmus]]

+ * [[mīma]]

+ * [[en|mimic]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}