aemŭlātĭo — Lewis & Short
aemŭlātĭo, ōnis, f.aemulor,
I an assiduous striving to equal or excel another in any thing, emulation (it denotes rather the mental effort, while imitatio regards more the mode of action; but rivalitas is a jealous rivalry, and therefore used only in a bad sense, while aemulatio is employed both in a good and bad sense) Cic. thus explains this word: aemulatio dupliciter illa quidem dicitur, ut et in laude et in vitio nomen hoc sit;
nam et imitatio virtutis aemulatio dicitur ... et est aemulatio aegritudo, si eo, quod concupierit, alius potiatur, ipse careat,Cic. Tusc. 4, 8, 17. So,
I In a good sense, emulation:
laudis,Nep. Att. 5; Vell. 1, 17: gloriae, Just. praef.; Tac. A. 2, 44, id Agr. 21; Suet. Calig. 19; id. Tib. 11:
secundum aemulationem,in zeal, Vulg. Phil. 3, 6.—Transf., of the imitation of nature in painting:
pictura fallax est et in aemulatione naturae multum degenerat transcribentium sors varia,Plin. 25, 2, 4, § 8.—
II In a bad sense, jealousy, envy, malevolence, duszhli/a:
aemulatio vitiosa, quae rivalitati similis est,Cic. Tusc. 4, 26, 56:
infensa,Tac. A. 13, 19:
municipalis,id. H. 3, 57:
adversariorum,Suet. Ner. 23; cf. id. 33:
aemulatio nasci tur ex conjunctione, alitur aequalitate, exardescit invidiā, cujus finis est odium,Plin. Pan. 84 al.: ad aemulationem eum provocaverunt, to jealousy (said of God), Vulg. Psa. 77, 58. contentiones, aemulationes, rivalries, ib. 2 Cor, 12, 20.