mirage French · revision 16038

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=derivation|attested=1753, Histoire de l'Académie royale des sciences}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mi.ʁaʒ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mirage''' ''m'' (plural mirages)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed from [[mirer|t=to look at, (reflexive) to be reflected]] with the suffix [[-age]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) The verb is [[inh|la-vul|*mīrō|alt=*mīrāre|t=to look at attentively]], from classical [[la|mīror|alt=mīrārī|t=to wonder at]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Etymonline notes the resemblance to Arabic “miʿrāj” “ladder” but judges it coincidental.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Histoire de l'Académie royale des sciences'' (1753) uses it for an optical illusion caused by refraction in the air.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ It named especially the effect of the sun in the desert, where distant objects seem reflected in a sheet of water, and, from 1829 (Balzac, ''Les Chouans'') it was figuratively a deceptive illusion (''les mirages de la gloire'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) The Dassault company gave the name to a French military aircraft (1955).^(DHLF 1992) In 1931 a new derivative ''mirage'' named the candling of eggs (''mirer les œufs'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) English ''mirage'' appears in 1800, in translations from French.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1753 – An optical illusion.^(TLFi)

+ * 1800 – English ''mirage''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1829 – “Illusion”, in Balzac.^(TLFi)

+ * 1931 – The candling of eggs.^(TLFi)

+ * 1955 – The Dassault ''Mirage''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|mirage]] (optical illusion): ''les mirages du désert''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(figurative)'' An illusion, deceptive appearance: ''les mirages du succès''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(technology)'' The candling of eggs.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A Mirage (French military aircraft).^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mirer]]

+ * [[miroir]]

+ * [[mire]]

+ * [[admirer]]

+ * [[en|mirage]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}