mimeyoudaoicibaDictYouDict[mime 词源字典]
mime: [17] Greek mimos meant ‘imitator’, and hence ‘actor’. English took it over via Latin mīmus, and lost no time in turning it into a verb. The derived Greek adjective mīmikós has given English mimic [16], and other related forms include mimeograph [19], so called because it copies things, and mimosa [18], named from its tendency to curl up when touched, as if in ‘imitation’ of animal behaviour. The compound pantomime means etymologically ‘complete mime’.
=> mimeograph, mimosa, pantomime[mime etymology, mime origin, 英语词源]
mime (n.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
c. 1600, "a buffoon who practices gesticulations" [Johnson], from French mime (16c.) and directly from Latin mimus, from Greek mimos "imitator, mimic, actor, mime, buffoon," of unknown origin. In reference to a performance, 1640s in a classical context; 1932 as "a pantomime."
mime (v.)youdaoicibaDictYouDict
1610s, "to act without words," from mime (n.). The transferred sense of "to imitate" is from 1733 (Greek mimeisthai meant "to imitate"). Meaning "to pretend to be singing a pre-recorded song" is from 1965. Related: mimed; miming.