Word Study
impersonate
CIDE DICTIONARY
impersonate, v. t.
- To invest with personality; to endow with the form of a living being. [1913 Webster]
- To ascribe the qualities of a person to; to personify. [1913 Webster]
- To assume, or to represent, the person or character of; to personate; as, he impersonated Macbeth. [1913 Webster]"Benedict impersonated his age."
OXFORD DICTIONARY
impersonate, v.tr.
1 pretend to be (another person) for the purpose of entertainment or fraud.
2 act (a character).
1 pretend to be (another person) for the purpose of entertainment or fraud.
2 act (a character).
Derivative
impersonation n. impersonator n.
Etymology
IN-(2) + L persona PERSON
THESAURUS
impersonate
act, act a part, act as, act out, adumbrate, ape, body forth, copy, copycat, create a role, demonstrate, depict, discourse, do, embody, enact, exemplify, figure, foreshadow, hit off, hit off on, illustrate, image, incarnate, make false pretenses, masquerade as, mime, mimic, mirror, mock, pantomime, parrot, pass for, perform, personate, personify, play, play a part, play a role, play opposite, playact, portray, pose as, prefigure, pretend to be, pretypify, project, realize, reflect, represent, shadow, shadow forth, support, sustain a part, take a part, take off, take off onROGET THESAURUS
impersonate
Imitation
VB imitate, copy, mirror, reflect, reproduce, repeat, do like, echo, reecho, catch, transcribe, match, parallel, mock, take off, mimic, ape, simulate, impersonate, personate, act, represent, counterfeit, parody, travesty, caricature, lampoon, burlesque, follow in the steps of, tread in the steps, follow in the footsteps of, follow in the wake of, take pattern by, follow suit, follow the example of, walk in the shoes of, take a leaf out of another's book, strike in with, follow suit, take after, model after, emulate.Representation
VB copy, drawing, sketch, drought, draft, plot, chart, figure, scheme, image, likeness, icon, portrait, striking likeness, speaking likeness, very image, effigy, facsimile, figure, figure head, puppet, doll, figurine, aglet, manikin, lay- figure, model, mammet, marionette, fantoccini, waxwork, bust, statue, statuette, ideograph, hieroglyphic, anaglyph, kanji, diagram, monogram, map, plan, chart, ground plan, projection, elevation (plan), ichnography, cartography, atlas, outline, scheme, view, radiograph, scotograph, sciagraph, spectrogram, heliogram, V, represent, delineate, depict, depicture, portray, take a likeness, catch a likeness, hit off, photograph, daguerreotype, snapshot, figure, shadow forth, shadow out, adumbrate, body forth, describe, trace, copy, mold, dress up, illustrate, symbolize, paint, carve, engrave, personate, personify, impersonate, assume a character, pose as, act, play, mimic, hold the mirror up to nature.For further exploring for "impersonate" in Webster Dictionary Online