Word: Simulacrum

You pronounce it: [sim-yuh-ley-kruh m]

Definition:

noun, plural simulacra [sim-yuh-ley-kruh] (Show IPA)
1. a slight, unreal, or superficial likeness or semblance.
2. an effigy, image, or representation:
“a simulacrum of Aphrodite.”

Origin:

1590-1600; < Latin simulācrum likeness, image, equivalent to simulā (re) to simulate + -crum instrumental suffix

I found it while reading a class presentation handout for Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell:

This is like Pilgrim’s Progress simulacrums, which are the concept of copies of something for which there is no original.

Works Cited:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/simulacrum?s=t