Cruel or contemptuous imitation or ridicule of someone or something.
From Old French 'mocquer' meaning to deride, possibly from Middle Dutch 'mocken' meaning to mumble or mutter. The original sense was making fun of someone by imitating their speech in a mumbling, unclear way - like doing a bad impression of how someone talks. The word evolved from mimicking speech patterns to any kind of contemptuous imitation.
Mockery started as making fun of how people talked - doing exaggerated impressions of their mumbling or accent. It's the linguistic equivalent of playground bullying, where kids have always instinctively known that mimicking someone's voice is one of the most effective ways to hurt their feelings.
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