mime

See also: MIME and mimé

English

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.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maɪm/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪm

Noun

mime (countable and uncountable, plural mimes)

1. A form of acting without words; pantomime.
   • 1977 April 23, Arlene Silva, “Suzanne Fox's Silent Stories”, in Gay Community News, page 10:

     [Silence] demands returning to the self, to innocence and a 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.
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.

Related terms

• pantomime

Translations

pantomime

• Bulgarian: пантомима f (pantomima)
• Catalan: pantomima (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 啞劇／哑剧 (zh) (yǎjù)

• Czech: pantomima (cs) f
• Esperanto: pantomimo
• Finnish: pantomiimi (fi)
• French: pantomime (fr) f, mime (fr) m
• Japanese: マイム (maimu)
• Korean: 마임 (maim)
• Polish: pantomima (pl) f
• Portuguese: mímica (pt) f
• Russian: пантоми́ма (ru) f (pantomíma)
• Spanish: pantomima (es) f, mimo (es) m
• Swedish: pantomim (sv) c, mim (sv) c
• Thai: ละครใบ้

pantomime actor

• Bengali: বহুরূপী (bn) (bohurupi)
• Bulgarian: мим m (mim)
• Czech: mim (cs) m
• Esperanto: mimo, pantomimisto
• Finnish: pantomiimikko
• French: mime (fr) m
• Italian: mimo (it) m
• Polish: mim (pl) m, mimik (pl) m, pantomimista (pl) m, pantomimik (pl) m
• Portuguese: mímico (pt) m
• Russian: мим (ru) m (mim)
• Spanish: mimo (es) m or f
• Swedish: mimare c

classical theatrical entertainment

• Catalan: mímica (ca) f
• Finnish: mimiikka (fi)
• Greek:

  Ancient: μῖμος m (mîmos)

• Latin: mīmus m
• Spanish: mimo (es) m

performer of such a farce

• Finnish: miimikko (fi)
• Italian: intrattenitore (it) m
• Polish: mim (pl) m
• Spanish: mimo (es) m

person who mimics others in a comical manner

• Finnish: imitaattori (fi)

Verb

mime (third-person singular simple present mimes, present participle miming, simple past and past participle mimed)

1. To mimic.
2. (intransitive) 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.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:imitate

Translations

To act without words

• Maori: whakaari ngū
• Spanish: gesticular (es), mimar (es)
• Swedish: mima (sv)

See also

• lip-synch

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mim/
• Rhymes: -im

Etymology 1

From Latin mimus, from Ancient Greek μῖμος (mîmos).

Noun

mime m (plural mimes)

1. pantomime actor, mime
2. pantomime

Derived terms

• mimer

Etymology 2

Verb

mime

1. inflection of mimer:
   1. first/third-person singular present indicative/subjunctive
   2. second-person singular imperative

Further reading

• “mime”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• emmi

German

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

mime

1. inflection of mimen:
   1. first-person singular present
   2. first/third-person singular subjunctive I
   3. singular imperative

Indonesian

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Dutch mime, from French mime, from Latin mimus, from Ancient Greek μῖμος (mîmos).

Noun

mime (plural mime-mime, first-person possessive mimeku, second-person possessive mimemu, third-person possessive mimenya)

1. (drama) mime

Further reading

• “mime” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Japanese

Romanization

mime

1. Rōmaji transcription of みめ

Latin

Noun

mīme

1. vocative singular of mīmus

Portuguese

Verb

mime

1. inflection of mimar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative
2. inflection of mimir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

Spanish

Verb

mime

1. inflection of mimar:
   1. first/third-person singular present subjunctive
   2. third-person singular imperative
2. inflection of mimir:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative