The use of something that is familiar to other people, in order to reap the benefit of that recognition. While there are negative connotations surrounding the use of mimicry in design, there is also the thought that “why [should we] resolve problems that nature has already solved over thousands of years?” [1] This can be extended to the UI design realm, taking into consideration copyright infringement, by reusing well-known or well-adopted interface elements and patterns. This makes sense from a user experience perspective, which is backed up by jakob Nielsen’s 10 Usability Heuristics for User Interface Design.[2]
Big Mac versus Big Mick 
Source: The Cadillac Lawyer based on Coming to America
Leaf-tailed Gecko Camouflage
Source: The Daily Telegraph
NEST Learning Thermostat App Mimics Physical Dial
[1] Nichol, Peter. “Design Thinking Enlightened With Mimicry.” CIO. N. p., 2017. Web. 15 Oct. 2017.
[2] “10 Heuristics For User Interface Design: Article By Jakob Nielsen.” Nngroup.com. N. p., 2017. Web. 15 Oct. 2017.
I appreciate reading one of your summary source “Design Thinking Enlightened With Mimicry.” You may have clicked the link on that page and already have checked out Biomimicry, but this video intrigued me – why not we looked out the natural source to create a sustainable solutions?! https://youtu.be/FBUpnG1G4yQ