Echomimetic is an adjective that is best explained in English by the term onomatopoeic, i.e. derived from onomatopoeia as the latter noun is used in philology and literature and in the explanation of the origin of words in dictionaries. In modern Greek lexicography, the term onomatopoeia is virtually non-existent and the words of which the etymology it describes are almost always designated as echomimetic. However, the "echo" of echomimetic is different from the "echo" of echolalia. The "echo" of echolalia comes from Greek ἠχώ, which is the source for the modern English word echo, the two words being synonymous; while the "echo" of echomimetic comes from Greek ἦχος which means "sound". Mimetic comes from Greek μιμητικός, meaning "imitating". In German philology the term lautmalend is used