Imitation
in music, the repetition of a short subject by another part. The subject proposed is sometimes called the antecedent, and the passage which afterward imitates it the consequent.
Imitation by diminution is when the consequent is in notes half the length of those of the antecedent. Imitation by inversion is when the intervals of the antecedent are inverted in order to form the consequent. Imitation is said to be convertible when antecedent and consequent are interchangeable. If strict imitation be continued for any length of time, it is said to be canonical. a IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, name applied the dogma defined by Pope Pius IX., on Dec. 8, 1854, that the 854 that the immaculate conception of Mary is an article of divine faith. According to the dogma, in her active conception, or generation, there was nothing miraculous; but in the passive conception, or infusion of a rational soul, she was sanctified and preserved from the taint of original sin by the foreseen merits of Christ.