reproduction

noun re·pro·duc·tion \ˌrē-prə-ˈdək-shən\

: the process that produces babies, young animals, or new plants

: the act of copying something (such as a document, book, or sound)

: something that is made to look exactly like an original

Full Definition of REPRODUCTION

: the act or process of reproducing; specifically : the process by which plants and animals give rise to offspring and which fundamentally consists of the segregation of a portion of the parental body by a sexual or an asexual process and its subsequent growth and differentiation into a new individual

: something reproduced : copy

: young seedling trees in a forest

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First Known Use of REPRODUCTION

1659

Related to REPRODUCTION

Synonyms: carbon, carbon copy, clone, dummy, dupe, duplicate, duplication, facsimile, imitation, mock, reduplication, replica, replication, copy

Antonyms: archetype, original, prototype

Synonym Discussion of REPRODUCTION

reproduction, duplicate, copy, facsimile, replica mean a thing made to closely resemble another. reproduction implies an exact or close imitation of an existing thing <reproductions from the museum's furniture collection>. duplicate implies a double or counterpart exactly corresponding to another thing <a duplicate of a house key>. copy applies especially to one of a number of things reproduced mechanically <printed 1000 copies of the lithograph>. facsimile suggests a close reproduction often of graphic matter that may differ in scale <a facsimile of a rare book>. replica implies the exact reproduction of a particular item in all details <a replica of the Mayflower> but not always in the same scale <miniature replicas of classic cars>.