Etymologically
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reflexio

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Pronunciation

  • Classical: [rɛˈfɫɛk.si.oː][1]
  • Ecclesiastical: [reˈflɛk.si.o][1]

Forms

reflexiō f (genitive reflexiōnis); third declension[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin reflectō (“to bend back”) + -tiō,[1][2] formed on the past-participle stem of the verb.[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's earliest sources are Macrobius and Pseudo-Apuleius (end of the 4th century);[4] in the treatise on interpretation ascribed to Apuleius it is a term of logic for the conversion of propositions.[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Martianus Capella and Cassiodorus kept the logical sense, and Isidore of Seville took it from Cassiodorus.[2] In rhetoric it named the figure in which one who answers turns the other speaker's words to another or opposite sense, Greek ἀνάκλασις (anáklasis).[2] In ordinary use Macrobius has it of bending back the neck.[5][2]

Medieval British writers used it in medicine for the bending of limbs and nerves, in optics for the reflection of light (angulus reflexionis, the angle of reflection) and of images, for a turning aside, and in philosophy for the mind turning inward.[6] Thomas Aquinas uses it of bending back in the literal sense.[7] English borrowed it in the late 14th century, from Old French and directly from Late Latin, as reflection.[3]

Timeline

  • end of 4th century AD – Pseudo-Apuleius uses it in logic.[2][4]
  • first half of 5th century AD – Macrobius uses it of bending back the neck.[5][4]
  • c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses it for the conversion of propositions.[2][4]
  • c. 560–636 AD – Isidore of Seville takes the logical term from Cassiodorus.[2][4]
  • late 14th century – Borrowed into English as reflection.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A bending or turning back.[5][2]
  2. (logic) The conversion of a proposition.[5][2]
  3. (rhetoric) The turning of a speaker's words to another sense, anaclasis.[2]
  4. (Medieval Latin) Reflection of light or of an image.[6]
  5. (Medieval Latin, medicine) Bending of limbs or nerves; reflex action.[6]
  6. (Medieval Latin) A turning aside, diversion.[6]
  7. (Medieval Latin, philosophy) The mind's turning inward, reflection.[6]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
  3. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  4. ^ a b c d e Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
  5. ^ a b c d e Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  6. ^ a b c d e Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press
  7. ^ Schütz, Ludwig (1895), Thomas-Lexikon, 2nd ed., Paderborn: F. Schöningh