imitation
im·i·ta·tion/ɪmɪˈteɪ̯ʃən/noun
imitation is spelled I-M-I-T-A-T-I-O-N, 4 syllables: im·i·ta·tion. The wrong spelling people search most is immitation: about 110 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10 of all searches for the word. Imitation is a noun meaning “The act of imitating”. The plural of imitation is imitations.
How many letters and syllables are in imitation?
| Letters | 9: I-M-I-T-A-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: im·i·ta·tion |
| In writing | 3.0 times per million words; the 15,613th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, immitation, about 110 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell imitation?
Imitation is spelled I-M-I-T-A-T-I-O-N. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 10 of the searches for imitation in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is imitation?
Imitation appears 3.0 times per million words in written English, the 15,613th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce imitation?
- /ɪmɪˈteɪ̯ʃən/
- [ɪmɪˈtʰeɪ̯ʃən]
Imitation has 4 syllables, split im·i·ta·tion in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-imitation.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of imitation
- imitations plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does imitation mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The act of imitating.
a pale imitation
- 2
A copy or simulation; something that is not the real thing.
imitation leather
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate imitation?
Wiktionary records 2 abbreviations of imitation: imit., incr..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Imitation in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | imitation |
| German | Imitation, Nachahmung , Kopie, Imitat |
| Portuguese | imitação, arremedo |
| Spanish | imitación |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does imitation come from?
From Middle English imitacioun, from Middle French imitacion, from Old French imitacion, from Latin imitatio.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).