emulation
n. uncountablen. the act of trying to be as good as or better than someone else by copying them. In computing, it is when one system acts like another so it can run the same software.
n. the effort to match or surpass a person or achievement, typically by imitation. In a computational context, refers to the process of one system imitating the hardware and software of another to achieve identical functionality.
The student's work was a successful emulation of her teacher's style.
Software emulation allows modern computers to run classic video games that were originally designed for obsolete hardware from the 1990s.
While simple imitation merely copies outward behavior, true emulation involves understanding the underlying principles of a mentor's success to achieve a comparable level of excellence in one's own field.
From Middle French émulation, from Latin aemulātiō.
Often followed by the preposition 'of' when describing the object being imitated.