The word 模仿 is formed by combining two characters, each contributing a core semantic idea to create the unified concept of "to imitate". The first character, 模 (mó), originally depicted the casting of objects from a wooden mold or model, thus carrying the inherent meaning of a standard, pattern, or prototype to be followed. The second character, 仿 (fǎng), is built from the human-related radical (亻) combined with a phonetic component, and its essential meaning is "to resemble" or "to be like". Therefore, the compound 模仿 conceptually merges the notion of "having a model" (模) with the act of "making oneself or something resemble it" (仿), perfectly encapsulating the action of copying or emulating based on an existing example.