mirror

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A smooth surface, usually made of glass with reflective material painted on the underside, that reflects light so as to give an image of what is in front of it.
  2. An object, person, or event that reflects or gives a picture of another.
  3. A website or server that contains replicated data from another site.
  4. A mirror carp.
  5. A kind of political self-help book, advising kings, princes, etc. on how to behave.
verb
  1. To reflect, as in a mirror.
  2. To act as a reflection of, either by being identical to, or by being identical but reversed.
  3. Of an event, activity, behavior, to be identical to; to be a copy of; to imitate closely.
  4. To create something identical to (a website, etc.).

Pronunciation

/ˈmɪɹə/ En-uk-mirror.ogg /ˈmiɹɚ/ /ˈmɪɹ.ɚ/ /ˈmi.ɚ/ /ˈmɪɹ/ En-us-mirror.ogg /ˈmɪɹəɹ/ /ˈmɜɹ/ /ˈməɹə/ /ˈmɪɾəɾ/ /ˈmɪɾə/ /ˈmɪrə(r)/ /mɪˈrɜ(r)/

Word forms

mirror mirrors mirrour myrrhor mirroring mirrored

Etymology

From Middle English mirour, from Old French mireor (“mirror”, literally “looker, watcher”), from mirer (“look at”), from Latin mīror (“wonder at”), from mīrus (“wonderful”), from Proto-Indo-European *smey- (“to laugh, to be glad”). Displaced native Middle English schewere, schawere, from Old English sċēawere (“mirror”, literally “watcher”), which was also the word for "spy".

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