From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:
Simulation \Sim`u*la"tion\, n. [F. simulation, L. simulatio.]
The act of simulating, or assuming an appearance which is
feigned, or not true; -- distinguished from dissimulation,
which disguises or conceals what is true.
[1913 Webster]
Syn: Counterfeiting; feint; pretense.
[1913 Webster]
From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:
simulation
n 1: the act of imitating the behavior of some situation or some
process by means of something suitably analogous
(especially for the purpose of study or personnel training)
2: (computer science) the technique of representing the real
world by a computer program; "a simulation should imitate the
internal processes and not merely the results of the thing
being simulated" [syn: simulation, computer simulation]
3: representation of something (sometimes on a smaller scale)
[syn: model, simulation]
4: the act of giving a false appearance; "his conformity was
only pretending" [syn: pretense, pretence, pretending,
simulation, feigning]
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008) [foldoc]:
simulation
simulate
<simulation, system> Attempting to predict aspects of the
behaviour of some system by creating an approximate
(mathematical) model of it. This can be done by physical
modelling, by writing a special-purpose computer program or
using a more general simulation package, probably still aimed
at a particular kind of simulation (e.g. structural
engineering, fluid flow). Typical examples are aircraft
flight simlators or electronic circuit simulators. A great
many simulation languages exist, e.g. Simula.
See also emulation, Markov chain.
Usenet newsgroup: news:comp.simulation.
(1995-02-23)