emulation.

1. An effort to equal or surpass an example through imitation.

2. Imitation of another system's behavior so its functions or software can operate.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• emulation of a mentor
• competitive emulation

On the page

Her early work shows emulation of her mentor's methods.

Usage notes

Primary category: psychology / human behavior. Forms: Usually uncountable; no ordinary plural in this sense. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: character, interpretation. Commonness: moderately common.