Word of the Day : September 16, 2026
Facsmile
nounfak-SIM-uh-lee
What it Means
- A facsimile is an exact copy of something. The word facsimile is also still sometimes used to refer to a system of transmitting and reproducing graphic matter, such as printed text or photos, though the word fax is more common.
- // The forged painting was an impressive facsimile of the original.
- // The documents can be sent by facsimile to the number below.
- See the entry
FACSMILE in Context
“The installation could be read as an invocation of [Widline] Cadet’s mother’s Washington Heights apartment. … ‘For Haitian families,’ she says, ‘the living room is a sacred place.’ And yet, this is no mere facsimile of a Haitian living room. Like much of Cadet’s work, the installation, titled Altar #2, hovers between reality and fantasy.” — Elly Fishman, Vogue, 8 May 2026
Vocab Builder:Facsimile
Which of the following describes a facsimile?
A.
A museum displays a perfect replica of a historical document.
B.
A historian writes a summary of a document’s key points.
C.
An artist creates a new painting inspired by a historical event.
Dd You Know?
The facsimile machine (or fax machine) has long been an office staple, but its name is much, much older. Fac simile is a Latin phrase meaning “make alike.” English speakers began using facsimile to mean “an exact copy” in the late 1600s. In this sense, a facsimile might be a handwritten or hand-drawn copy, or even a copy of a painting or statue. (Today, we also use the phrase “a reasonable facsimile” for a copy that is fairly close but not exact.) In the 1800s, people developed facsimile technology that could reproduce printed material via telegraph. Now, of course, we use telephone lines or wireless technology, and we usually call the resulting facsimile a fax.
Quiz
Aquinas College Library 