simulacrum
/ˌsɪmjʊˈleɪkɹəm/
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin simulācrum (“image, likeness”), from simul(ā) + -crum (a variant of -culum, from Proto-Indo-European *-tlom, a suffix forming instrument nouns), from similis (“similar (to)”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one; together”).
simulacrum means A physical image or representation of a deity, person, or thing. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 79 out of 100.
simulacrum is pronounced /ˌsɪmjʊˈleɪkɹəm/.
Why “simulacrum” is a great word
SIMULACRUM — [Noun] A physical image or representation, especially one that is a superficial likeness or imitation lacking the substance of the original. From the Latin simulacrum ("image, likeness"), from simulare ("to make like, imitate") + -crum (instrumental suffix), ultimately from similis ("similar"). First attested in English in the 1590s. Unlike a "facsimile," which strives for faithful replication, or an "archetype," the original and perfect model, a simulacrum is a derivative copy that has drifted from its source. It is the wax figure’s glassy, unseeing stare, the algorithmically-generated portrait of a person who never existed, or the political slogan emptied of meaning through relentless repetition—a hollow effigy standing in for a truth that has been lost, or may never have existed.
noun
- A physical image or representation of a deity, person, or thing.“a simulacrum of a New York studio apartment”
- A thing which has the appearance or form of another thing, but not its true qualities; a thing which simulates another thing; an imitation; a semblance.“One Life; a little gleam of Time between two Eternities; no second chance to us forevermore! It were well for us to live not as fools and simulacra, but as wise and realities.”