mimeograph

/ˌmɪmiəˈgræf/

Other forms: mimeographed; mimeographing; mimeographs

A mimeograph is an old-fashioned copy machine. Mimeographs were often used for making classroom copies in schools before photocopying became inexpensive in the mid- to late-20th century.

A mimeograph printed copies by pressing ink through a stencil onto paper, which was pulled by a crank through a system of rollers. The copies themselves were often also called mimeographs. Even after the invention of modern photocopiers, mimeographs were a popular way to make cheap copies, and many offices still had the machines as late as the 1990s. The root of mimeograph is the Greek mimeisthai, "to mimic, represent, or imitate."

Definitions of mimeograph

1. noun

   a rotary duplicator that uses a stencil through which ink is pressed (trade mark Roneo)
   synonyms: Roneo, Roneograph, mimeo, mimeograph machine

   type of:

   copier, duplicator

   apparatus that makes copies of typed, written or drawn material
2. verb

   print copies from (a prepared stencil) using a mimeograph
   “She mimeographed the syllabus”

   synonyms: mimeo

   type of:

   copy, re-create

   make a replica of