SIMULACRUM: 1: image, representation 2: an insubstantial form or semblance or something: trace
It's not a figment of your imagination; there is a similarity between "simulacrum" and "simulate." Both words derive from simulare, a Latin verb meaning "to imitate." In its earliest English uses, "simulacrum" named something that provided an image or representation (as, for instance, a portrait, marble statue, or wax figure representing a person). Perhaps because a simulacrum, no matter how skillfully done, is not the real thing, the word gained an extended sense emphasizing the superficiality or insubstantiality of a thing. Today, it's used as a synonym of "counterfeit" or "fake," but in general it doesn't carry the sense of deceit.
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