Simulate

How to spell simulate

8 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce simulate

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does simulate mean?

1. verbTo reproduce the appearance, conditions, or behaviour of something, often for study, training, or testing.

Simulate in a sentence

• The new software can simulate traffic flow across the whole city.

• Pilots use the cockpit to simulate emergency landings before they fly.

Where does simulate come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word comes from the Latin simulare, meaning 'to make like' or 'to copy', which was built on the adjective similis, meaning 'like' or 'resembling'. The original idea was to produce something that looked the same as the real thing, whether honestly or deceptively. In its earliest English use, recorded around the late 1600s, it often carried the dishonest sense of pretending or faking, a flavour preserved in the related word 'dissimulate', meaning to hide one's true feelings. Over time the neutral, technical meaning grew strong, especially with the rise of computers and engineering, where to simulate is simply to model or reproduce conditions for study. The same similis root sits inside 'similar', 'simultaneous', and 'assimilate', and that single 'l' in the middle (not a doubled one) is the main spelling point to fix in memory.

How the word is built

• simul- (from similis: like, similar)
• -ate (verb suffix, 'to make or do')