Etymology 13: Mime

A mime has been described as, "a buffoon who practices gesticulations" Dating back to the beginning of the 17th century, this word comes from the French "mime," from the Latin "mimus," and from Greek "mimos." "Mimos," meaning, "imitator, actor, or buffoon." The verb meaning "to act without words" is from the 1610s; the transferred sense of "to imitate" is from 1733. A relative of this would be the Greek "mimeisthai" meaning "to imitate."