mime

name

1. Acronym of Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (“an Internet standard that extends the formatting and content capabilities of email”).

noun

Etymology: Possibly from Middle English *mime, from Old English mīma (“a buffoon, jester, mime”), from Latin mimus, from Ancient Greek μῖμος (mîmos, “imitator, actor”), but more likely re-borrowed in modern times from French mime (“mimic actor”), from the same source.

1. A form of acting without words; pantomime.

   “[Silence] demands returning to the self, to innocence and a portrayal of situations as if all the particulars were completely unknown to the viewer. There are no props but the muscular versatility of the human form. Mime is the one thing that truly proves we can be all things.”

2. A pantomime actor.
3. A classical theatrical entertainment in the form of farce.

   “The mimes were packed with lascivious gestures and movements, and usually presented erotic scenes, on occasion farcically treated.”

4. A performer of such a farce.
5. A person who mimics others in a comical manner.
6. Any of various papilionid butterflies of the genus Chilasa or Papilio, that mimic other species in appearance.
7. A unit of imitation in the theory of symbiosism.

verb

Etymology: Possibly from Middle English *mime, from Old English mīma (“a buffoon, jester, mime”), from Latin mimus, from Ancient Greek μῖμος (mîmos, “imitator, actor”), but more likely re-borrowed in modern times from French mime (“mimic actor”), from the same source.

1. To mimic.
2. To act without words.
3. To represent an action or object through gesture, without the use of sound.

   “In this game, you're given a word, which you have to mime to the others in the group.”