mirror
English
editAlternative forms
editEtymology
editFrom Middle English mirour, from Old French mireor (“mirror”, literally “looker, watcher”), from mirer (“look at”), from Latin mīror (“wonder at”), from mīrus (“wonderful”), from Proto-Indo-European *smey- (“to laugh, to be glad”). Displaced native Middle English schewere, schawere, from Old English sċēawere (“mirror”, literally “watcher”), which was also the word for "spy."
Pronunciation
edit- (Received Pronunciation, General Australian) IPA(key): /ˈmɪɹ.ə/
Audio (Received Pronunciation): (file)
- (General American) IPA(key): /ˈmiɹ.ɚ/, /ˈmɪɹ.ɚ/, /ˈmɪɹ/
Audio (California): (file)
- (New Zealand) IPA(key): /ˈməɹ.a/
- Homophone: mere (some accents)
- Rhymes: -ɪɹə(ɹ), -ɪə(ɹ), -ɪəɹə(ɹ)
Noun
editmirror (plural mirrors)
- A smooth surface, usually made of glass with reflective material painted on the underside, that reflects light so as to give an image of what is in front of it.
- I had a look in the mirror to see if the blood had come off my face.
- We could see the lorry in the mirror, so decided to change lanes.
- (figuratively) An object, person, or event that reflects or gives a picture of another.
- His story is a mirror into the life of orphans growing up.
- 1590, Edmund Spenser, “(please specify the book)”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:
- O goddess, heavenly bright,
Mirror of grace and majesty divine.
- (computing, Internet) A disk, website or other resource that contains replicated data.
- Although the content had been deleted from his blog, it was still found on some mirrors.
- A mirror carp.
- (historical) A kind of political self-help book, advising kings, princes, etc. on how to behave.
Synonyms
edit- (reflecting surface): glass (old-fashioned), looking-glass (old-fashioned)
Hyponyms
edit- acoustic mirror
- black mirror
- Bragg mirror
- burning mirror
- Chinese magic mirror
- conjugate mirror
- distorting mirror
- dressing mirror
- fold mirror
- funhouse mirror
- half-silvered mirror
- handmirror
- ion mirror
- liquid mirror
- magic mirror
- magnetic mirror
- milk mirror
- moon mirror
- one-way mirror
- parabolic mirror
- plane mirror
- rear-view mirror
- rearview mirror
- rear-vision mirror
- rear vision mirror
- side mirror
- side-view mirror
- skinny mirror
- sound mirror
- spherical mirror
- submirror
- trumeau mirror
- two-way mirror
- wing mirror
Derived terms
editTerms derived from mirror (noun)
- antimirror
- bemirror
- clear as a mirror
- do with mirrors
- fog a mirror
- hold a mirror to
- hold a mirror up to
- hold up a mirror to
- liquid mirror telescope
- look at oneself in the mirror
- man in the mirror
- metamirror
- micromirror
- mirrorable
- mirror armor
- mirror armour
- mirror ball
- mirror canon
- mirror fugue
- mirrorful
- mirror image
- mirror-image twin
- mirrorize
- mirrorless
- mirrorless
- mirrorlike
- mirror-like
- mirror match
- mirror matter
- mirror neuron
- mirror punishment
- mirrorscope
- mirrorshades
- mirror stage
- mirror symmetry
- mirror syndrome
- mirror test
- mirror theory
- mirrortocracy
- mirrortree
- mirror twin
- Mirrorverse
- mirror will
- mirrorwise
- mirrorwork
- mirrory
- mismirror
- mouth mirror
- multimirror
- nanomirror
- pentamirror
- remirror
- supermirror
- time reversal mirror
- unmirrored
Translations
editsmooth reflecting surface
|
computing: exact copy of a data set
|
Verb
editmirror (third-person singular simple present mirrors, present participle mirroring, simple past and past participle mirrored)
- (transitive) Of an event, activity, behaviour, etc, to be identical to; to be a copy of.
- He tried to mirror Elvis's life. He copied his fashion and his mannerisms, and he even went to live in Graceland.
- (computing, transitive) To create something identical to (a web site, etc.).
- (transitive) To reflect, as in a mirror.
Translations
editof an event, activity, behaviour; to be identical to, be a copy of, to reflect
|
to reflect, as in a mirror
|
See also
editCategories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms derived from Old French
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms inherited from Proto-Indo-European
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- English 1-syllable words
- English terms with homophones
- Rhymes:English/ɪɹə(ɹ)
- Rhymes:English/ɪɹə(ɹ)/2 syllables
- Rhymes:English/ɪə(ɹ)
- Rhymes:English/ɪə(ɹ)/1 syllable
- Rhymes:English/ɪəɹə(ɹ)
- Rhymes:English/ɪəɹə(ɹ)/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- en:Computing
- en:Internet
- English terms with historical senses
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- en:Toiletries
- English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *(s)mey-