simulation

/sɪmjuˈleɪʃɪn/

/sɪmjuˈleɪʃɪn/

Other forms: simulations

A simulation is a representation of something, not the real thing, like the simulation of life in New York City, seen in movies that were shot on Hollywood sound stages and on the streets of Toronto.

A simulation is something that represents something else — it isn't the real thing. At times you might perform a simulation as practice for real life, such as a flight simulation that’s used to train pilots. The word can also be used, often dismissively, to describe something that is a fake, like a simulation of excitement or the simulation of a perfect diamond.

Definitions of simulation

1. noun

   the act of imitating the behavior of some situation or some process by means of something suitably analogous (especially for the purpose of study or personnel training)
   types:

   war game

   a simulation of a military operation intended to train military commanders or to demonstrate a situation or to test a proposed strategy

   type of:

   model, modeling, modelling

   the act of representing something (usually on a smaller scale)
2. noun

   representation of something (sometimes on a smaller scale)
   synonyms: model

   types:

   figure

   a model of a bodily form (especially of a person)

   globe

   a sphere on which a map (especially of the earth) is represented

   mock-up

   full-scale working model of something built for study or testing or display

   planetarium

   an apparatus or model for representing the solar systems

   restoration

   a model that represents the landscape of a former geological age or that represents and extinct animal etc.

   roughcast

   a rough preliminary model

   diorama

   a three-dimensional representation of a scene, in miniature or life-size, with figures and objects set against a background

   celestial globe

   a globe that is a spherical model of the heavens

   dummy

   a figure representing the human form

   figurehead

   figure on the bow of some sailing vessels

   figurine, statuette

   a small carved or molded figure

   orrery

   planetarium consisting of an apparatus that illustrates the relative positions and motions of bodies in the solar system by rotation and revolution of balls moved by wheelwork; sometimes incorporated in a clock

   marionette, puppet

   a small figure of a person operated from above with strings by a puppeteer

   snowman

   a figure of a person made of packed snow

   type of:

   representation

   a creation that is a visual or tangible rendering of someone or something
3. noun

   (computer science) the technique of representing the real world by a computer program
   “a simulation should imitate the internal processes and not merely the results of the thing being simulated”

   synonyms: computer simulation

   type of:

   technique

   a practical method or art applied to some particular task

   framework, model, theoretical account

   a hypothetical description of a complex entity or process
4. noun

   the act of giving a false appearance
   synonyms: feigning, pretence, pretending, pretense

   types:

   appearance, show

   pretending that something is the case in order to make a good impression

   make-believe, pretend

   the enactment of a pretense

   affectation, affectedness, mannerism, pose

   a deliberate pretense or exaggerated display

   masquerade

   making a false outward show

   attitude

   a theatrical pose created for effect

   radical chic

   an affectation of radical left-wing views and the fashionable dress and lifestyle that goes with them

   type of:

   deceit, deception, dissembling, dissimulation

   the act of deceiving