reflexive

Etymology

It is borrowed from Medieval Latin reflexīvus (“turned back, reflected”),^[2][3][4][5] recorded in British sources from 1267 for what recoils or is directed upon itself,^[3] from reflexus, the past participle of reflectō (“to reflect”),^[2][3] with the suffix -īvus.^[2][3] Reflect goes back to re- (“back”) and flectō (“to bend”).^[5] The Shorter Oxford instead takes it as formed from English reflex + -ive.^[6] The OED compares French réflexif, first in Cotgrave (1611), Spanish reflexivo, Portuguese reflexivo and Italian riflessivo, and it takes the sense in logic from riflessività (“reflexivity”), used by G. Vailati in 1891.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Able to turn or bend something back: the OED's first record is J. Read's 1588 translation of Arcaeus.^[3][2][6] Etymonline has the 1580s.^[5]

Semantic evolution

In the 17th century it was used of light and heat that are reflected (from 1648) and of what is able to reflect light (before 1660),^[3] and above all of a mental act turned back on the mind itself (from 1615), from which came "thoughtful, given to reflection" (from 1630).^[3] Johnson (1755) knew it as "having respect to something past".^[7] The sense in grammar, an element referring back to the subject of the clause, is recorded from 1677 in the OED,^[3] and by 1740 in Etymonline.^[5] Merriam-Webster dates the noun, a reflexive pronoun or verb, to 1852.^[2] Two earlier uses of the noun, for reflective people and for an object that reflects light, are recorded only in the 1680s.^[3] In physiology, "of the nature of a reflex", it dates from 1845 in the OED,^[3] or from 1839, implied in reflexively, in Etymonline,^[5] and it was then extended to any automatic, unthinking response.^[3] The 20th century added the senses in logic (1903, in Russell), the social sciences (1904) and literary theory (1954).^[3]

Timeline

• 1588 – able to turn or bend something back.^[3][2]
• 1615 – of a mental act, turned back on the mind.^[3]
• 1630 – thoughtful, inclined to reflection.^[3]
• before 1635 – reciprocal, corresponding (obsolete by 1682).^[3]
• 1648 – of light or heat, reflected (obsolete).^[3]
• 1677 – in grammar, referring back to the subject.^[3] Etymonline dates this sense to 1740.^[5]
• 1845 – of the nature of a reflex; later, automatic.^[3]
• 1852 – noun, a reflexive pronoun or verb.^[2]
• 1903 – in logic and mathematics, of a relation holding between a term and itself.^[3]
• 1904 – of a method or theory that takes account of itself or of the researcher.^[3]
• 1954 – of a text or artwork, self-referential.^[3]

Meanings

Adjective

1. In grammar, of a pronoun such as herself that refers back to the subject of its clause: In the sentence “Anna taught herself Greek”, the pronoun is reflexive.^[8][3][6]
2. Of a verb, having such a pronoun as its direct object, as in to wash oneself.^[8][6][2]
3. Of the nature of a reflex; also, automatic and unthinking: a reflexive flinch.^[8][3][6]
4. In logic and mathematics, of a relation that always holds between a term and itself, as is equal to does.^[8][2][3]
5. In the social sciences, of a method or theory that takes account of itself, or of the researcher's effect on what is studied.^[3][6]
6. Of a text or artwork, drawing attention to itself or to how it was made; self-referential.^[3]
7. Of a mental act, turned back on the mind itself; introspective.^[2][3]
8. Able to bend back (rare).^[2][3][6]
9. (obsolete, before 1635–1682) Reciprocal, corresponding.^[3][6]

Noun

1. A reflexive pronoun or verb.^[2][6]

Word family

• reflexively
• reflexiveness
• reflexivity
• self-reflexive
• reflexivize
• reflexive pronoun

Related words

• irreflexive
• reflex
• reflect
• reflection
• reflective
• flexible

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
5. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
8. ^ a b c d Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins