mimic vs personate

mimic

verb
  • To imitate, especially in order to ridicule. 

  • To take on the appearance of another, for protection or camouflage. 

adj
  • Imitative; characterized by resemblance to other forms; applied to crystals which by twinning resemble simple forms of a higher grade of symmetry. 

  • Pertaining to mimicry; imitative. 

  • Mock, pretended. 

noun
  • An imitation. 

  • A comic who does impressions. 

  • An entity that mimics another entity, such as a disease that resembles another disease in its signs and symptoms; see the great imitator. 

  • A mime. 

personate

verb
  • To fraudulently portray another person; to impersonate. 

  • To portray a character (as in a play); to act. 

  • To attribute personal characteristics to something; to personify. 

  • To set forth in an unreal character; to disguise; to mask. 

adj
  • Having the throat of a corolla nearly closed by a projection of the base of the lower lip (in a way reminiscent of a mask), as in the flower of the snapdragon. 

How often have the words mimic and personate occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )