mirage English · revision 825

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɪˈɹɑːʒ/, /mɪˈɹaʒ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|fr|mirage]] (1753),^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) from ''se mirer'' “to look at oneself in a mirror, to be reflected”, from ''mirer'' “to look at”,^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate)^(Hoad 1986) [[der|la|mīrārī|t=to wonder at]], variant ''mīrāre'',^(AHD)^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline)^(MW Collegiate) from ''mīrus'' “wonderful”.^(AHD)^(Etymonline) It is related to [[mirror]] and [[miracle]].^(Barnhart 1995)^(Etymonline) The resemblance to Arabic ''miʿrāj'' “ladder, ascent” appears to be coincidental.^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ An optical illusion common in hot countries, especially in sandy deserts, in which the image of a distant object appears displaced or inverted, often as if reflected in a sheet of water (1800 in Etymonline, in translations of French works; 1803 in the OED and Merriam-Webster).^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative sense, a deceptive appearance or illusory hope, is found by 1812.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995) The phenomenon is caused by the bending of light rays through layers of air of different density,^(Etymonline)^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate) and the word was later used of the shimmering, wave-like look of warmed air just above the ground (1913).^(OED 1989) An earlier English word for a desert mirage was ''zarab'' (mid-15th century), from Arabic ''sarāb'' through Old French.^(Etymonline) A ''Mirage'' is also a series of French supersonic fighter aircraft.^(RHWU)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1753 – French ''mirage''.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1800 – English, the optical illusion.^(Etymonline)

+ * 1803 – first OED quotation.^(OED 1989)^(MW Collegiate)

+ * 1812 – figuratively, an illusion.^(Etymonline)^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1995)

+ * 1913 – the shimmer of warm air near the ground.^(OED 1989)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # An [[optical]] phenomenon, seen especially in the desert, at sea or over hot pavement, in which [[refraction]] of light by layers of hot and cool air creates the illusion of a sheet of water, often with inverted images of distant objects.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Something illusory, insubstantial or unattainable.^(AHD)^(MW Collegiate)^(RHWU)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mirror]]

+ * [[miracle]]

+ * [[admire]]

+ * [[marvel]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}