replicator

Noun

Singular replicator

Plural replicators

1. A replicator is a device or a structure that can make copies of itself.

   Genes are natural replicators.

2. A replicator is also a (fictional) man-made device that can make copies of itself, or transform matter to build any object or structure, living or not.

   Replicators still belong to science-fiction nowadays, but could exist one day thanks to technological progress.

Related words

• replicate
• replication