mirror English · revision 5004

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1225|origins=la mirari}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: UK /ˈmɪr.ə/, US /ˈmɪr.ɚ/^(Roach et al. 2011)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|enm|mirour]], [[bor|fro|mireor|alt=mireor, mirour|t=a reflecting glass; a model, example]],^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from mirer “to look at”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) from Vulgar Latin *mirāre, a variant of Latin mīrārī “to wonder at”,^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986) the source of [[miracle]] and [[admire]].^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) The spelling in -or dates from the 16th century, modelled on words in -or.^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ A polished surface that reflects images, especially of the face: about 1225 in the OED, the mid-13th century in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Something that gives a true picture of something else is from about 1385,^(OED 1989) and a person or thing to be imitated, a model, was an early sense too.^(NODE 1998)^(AHD) A glass or crystal used in magic is from the 13th century.^(OED 1989)^(NODE 1998) Water was called a mirror in poetry from 1595.^(OED 1989) The verb, to reflect, is from 1820 in the OED and Barnhart, in Keats's Lamia,^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988) or the 1590s in Etymonline and MWU;^(Etymonline)^(MWU 2024) Middle English had mirouren, to be a model of conduct (early 15th century), and miren, to look in a mirror.^(Etymonline)^(Barnhart 1988) Many languages call a mirror by a word from Latin speculum, as German Spiegel, while English is peculiar in calling it a glass.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1225 – a looking glass.^(OED 1989)

+ * c. 1385 – a true reflection of something.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1595 – water as a mirror.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1762 – in optics.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1820 – verb, to reflect.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A piece of [[glass]] with a shiny back that reflects images.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Something that shows what something else is like.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ===Verb===

+ # To show a reflection of something.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # To be similar to something or copy it.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[mirrored]]

+ * [[mirrorlike]]

+ * [[unmirrored]]

+ * [[mirror image]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[miracle]]

+ * [[admire]]

+ * [[mirage]]

+ * [[marvel]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}