mirror

mirror

English

A vase reflected in a mirror.

Alternative forms

• mirrour (obsolete)

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 Old English sċēawere (literally “watcher”), which was also the word for "spy."

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈmɪ.ɹə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈmiɹ.ɚ/, /ˈmɪɹ.ɚ/, /ˈmɪɹ/
• (New Zealand) IPA^(key): /ˈmə.ɹa/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Audio (RP)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪɹə(ɹ), -ɪə(ɹ), -ɪəɹə(ɹ)
• Homophone: mere (some accents)

Noun

mirror (plural mirrors)

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.

   I had a look in the mirror to see if the blood had come off my face.

   We could see the lorry in the mirror, so decided to change lanes.

2. (figuratively) An object, person, or event that reflects or gives a picture of another.

   His story is a mirror into the life of orphans growing up.

   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “(please specify the book)”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, OCLC 960102938:

     O goddess, heavenly bright,
     Mirror of grace and majesty divine.

3. (computing, Internet) A disk, website or other resource that contains replicated data.

   Although the content had been deleted from his blog, it was still found on some mirrors.

4. A mirror carp.
5. (historical) A kind of political self-help book, advising kings, princes, etc. on how to behave.

Synonyms

• (reflecting surface): glass (old-fashioned), looking-glass (old-fashioned)

Derived terms

Terms derived from mirror (noun)

• acoustic mirror
• black mirror
• Bragg mirror
• burning mirror
• Chinese magic mirror
• conjugate mirror
• distorting mirror
• do with mirrors
• dressing mirror
• fold mirror
• funhouse mirror
• half-silvered mirror
• handmirror
• hold a mirror to
• hold up a mirror to
• ion mirror
• liquid mirror
• liquid mirror telescope
• look at oneself in the mirror
• magic mirror
• magnetic mirror
• man in the mirror
• metamirror
• milk mirror
• mirror ball
• mirror image
• mirror-image twin
• mirror-like
• mirror matter
• mirror neuron
• mirror punishment
• mirror stage
• mirror symmetry
• mirror syndrome
• mirror test
• mirror theory
• mirror twin
• mirror will
• one-way mirror
• parabolic mirror
• plane mirror
• rearview mirror
• rear-view mirror
• rear vision mirror
• rear-vision mirror
• side mirror
• skinny mirror
• sound mirror
• spherical mirror
• submirror
• trumeau mirror
• two-way mirror
• unmirrored
• wing mirror

 

Translations

smooth reflecting surface

Abaza: гӏвыга (ʻʷəga) Abenaki: (please verify) pipinaojakwôgan Abkhaz: асаркьа (asarkʲʼa) Adyghe: гъундж (ğʷundž), гъуджэ (ğʷudže) Afrikaans: spieël Aghwan: 𐕘𐕒𐕡𐕎 (ġun) Akkadian: 𒃻𒋗𒌓𒅗𒁇 (mušālu) Aklanon: saeaming Alabama: aayanchahka istililhicha, aayanchahka Albanian: pasqyrë (sq) f, shofkë (sq) f Amharic: መስታዎት (mästawot) Arabic: مِرْآة‎ (ar) f (mirʾāh) Egyptian Arabic: مراية‎ f (mirāya) Hijazi Arabic: مِرَايَة‎ f (mirāya) Moroccan Arabic: مراية‎ f (mrāya) Aragonese: mirallo m Armenian: հայելի (hy) (hayeli) Assamese: দাপোণ n (dapün), আইনা n (aina) Asturian: espeyu (ast) m Atong (India): aina Avar: матӏу (matʼu) Aymara: lirpu Azerbaijani: güzgü (az) Baluchi: آدینک‎ (adí̃k) Banjarese: caramin Bashkir: көҙгө (köðgö) Basque: ispilu Belarusian: люстэ́рка (be) n (ljustérka), лю́стра n (ljústra), зярца́ла n (zjarcála) (archaic or ecclesiastic) Bengali: আয়না (bn) (ayôna), আরশি (bn) (arôśi), দর্পণ (bn) (dôrpôṇô) Bikol Central: salming (bcl) Bislama: mira Breton: melezour (br) m, milouer m Brunei Malay: caramin Bulgarian: огледа́ло (bg) n (ogledálo) Burmese: ကြေးမုံ (my) (kre:mum), မှန် (my) (hman) Buryat: гэрэл (gerel) Catalan: mirall (ca) m, espill (ca) m Cebuano: samin Chamorro: espehos Chayuco Mixtec: ino Chechen: куьзга (küzga) Cherokee: ᎠᏓᎨᏗ (adagedi), ᏓᏎᏘ (daseti) Cheyenne: amôhóomâhtsestôtse Chinese: Cantonese: 鏡, 镜 (geng3) Dungan: җинзы (žinzɨ) Hakka: 鏡仔, 镜仔 (kiang-é) Mandarin: 鏡子／镜子 (zh) (jìngzi) Min Dong: 鏡, 镜 (giáng) Min Nan: 鏡, 镜 (kiàⁿ) Wu: 鏡子, 镜子 (in tsr) Chukchi: виилгитэнэӈ (viilgitėnėṇ) Chuvash: тӗкӗр (tĕk̬ĕr) Classical Syriac: ܡܚܙܝܬܐ‎ f (maḥzīṯā) Cornish: mirour m Corsican: spechju m, specchiu m Cree: ᐘᐱᒧᐣ (wapimon), ᐚᐸᒧᐣ (waapamon) Crimean Tatar: küzgü Czech: zrcadlo (cs) n, zrcátko (cs) n Danish: spejl (da) n Daur: jinzi Dhivehi: މޫނުބަލާ ލޯގަނޑު‎ (mūnubalā lōgaⁿḍu) Dutch: spiegel (nl) East Yugur: tooli Emilian: spèc' m (Bolognese) Erzya: чавачамо (čavačamo) Esperanto: spegulo (eo) Estonian: peegel (et) Even: кёйэлчидивун (kjojəlciʒiwun) Evenki: ханячӯвка̄ (haņaçūwkā) Extremaduran: ehpehu m Faroese: spegil m Finnish: peili (fi), kuvastin (fi) (dated) French: glace (fr) f, miroir (fr) m Friulian: spieli m Fula: Adlam: 𞤲𞥋𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤪𞤮𞤪𞤺𞤢𞤤‎, 𞤼𞤭𞤲𞤼𞤮𞤪𞤺𞤢𞤤‎ Latin: ndaarorgal, tintorgal Gagauz: ayna Galician: espello (gl) m Georgian: სარკე (sarḳe) German: Spiegel (de) m Gothic: 𐍃𐌺𐌿𐌲𐌲𐍅𐌰 m (skuggwa) Greek: καθρέφτης (el) m (kathréftis) Ancient: κάτοπτρον n (kátoptron), εἴσοπτρον n (eísoptron) Greenlandic: tarrarsuut Guaraní: itagecha Gujarati: દર્પણ n (darpaṇ), અરીસો m (arīso) Haitian Creole: miwa, glas Hausa: madubi (ha), boka, matsokaci Hawaiian: aniani Hebrew: מַרְאָה‎ (he) f (mar'á), רְאִי‎ (he) m (re'í) Hindi: दर्पण (hi) m (darpaṇ), शीशा (hi) m (śīśā), आईना (hi) m (āīnā), आरसी (hi) f (ārsī) Hungarian: tükör (hu) Hupdë: mɔyə̌k Iban: cheremin Icelandic: spegill (is) m Ido: spegulo (io) Igbo: enyo (ig) Ilocano: sarming Indonesian: cermin (id) Ingrian: speili Ingush: кизга (kizga) Interlingua: spéculo Inuktitut: ᑕᖅᕋᑑᑎ (taqratooti) Inupiaq: taġġaqtuun Irish: scáthán (ga) m Italian: specchio (it) m Japanese: 鏡 (ja) (かがみ, kagami), 姿見 (sugatami) (large and long one) Javanese: ꦥꦼꦔꦶꦭꦺꦴꦤ꧀ (jv) (pengilon) Jurchen:  (*bunə-ku) Kabyle: ⵜⴰⵎⵔⴰⵢⵜ (tamrayt) Kalmyk: толь (tolĭ) Kannada: ಕನ್ನಡಿ (kn) (kannaḍi) Karachay-Balkar: кюзгю (küzgü) Karelian: zirkalo Kashubian: zdrzadło, zwiercadło, szpédżel Kazakh: айна (aina) Arabic: اينا‎ Khakas: кӧріндес Khmer: កញ្ចក់ (km) (kɑñcɑk) Komi-Zyrian: видзӧдчан (vidzʹödcʹan), рӧмпӧштан (römpöštan) Kongo: talatala Konkani: कान्नडि (kānnaḍi) Korean: 거울 (ko) (geoul) Kumyk: гюзгю (güzgü) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: ئاوێنە‎ (ku) (awêne) Northern Kurdish: neynik (ku), awêne (ku) Kyrgyz: күзгү (ky) (küzgü) Ladin: spidl Lao: ແວ່ນ (lo) (wǣn), ກະຈົກ (lo) (ka chok) (rare) Latin: speculum (la) n Latvian: spogulis (lv) m Laz: ჲალი (yali) Lezgi: гуьзгуь (güzgü) Ligurian: spêgio m Limburgish: spegel (li) m, sjpegel m Lingala: talatála Lithuanian: veidrodis (lt) m Lombard: spècc m, spèc m Louisiana Creole French: mirwar Low German: Spegel m Luxembourgish: Spigel m Lü: ᦶᦞᧃᧈ (vaen¹), ᦶᦞᧃᧈᦶᦍᧂ (vaen¹yaeng) Macedonian: огледало n (ogledalo), ѕрцало n (dzrcalo) (archaic or dialectal) Malagasy: fitaratra (mg) Malay: cermin (ms) Malayalam: കണ്ണാടി (ml) (kaṇṇāṭi) Maltese: mera f Manchu: ᠪᡠᠯᡝᡴᡠ (buleku) Manx: scaane Maori: karaehe (mi), karaihe Mapudungun: komütuwe Marathi: आरसा (ārsā) Mari: воштончыш (voštončyš), тӹгӹр (tÿgÿr) Middle Korean: 거우〮루 (kè(G)wúlwù) Mirandese: speilho m Moksha: ва́нома (vánoma) Mongghul: xal Mongolian: Cyrillic: толь (mn) (tolʹ) Mongolian: ᠲᠣᠯᠢ (toli) Nahuatl: tezcatl (nah) Neapolitan: specchio m Nepali: ऐना (ne) (ainā) Nganasan: хорә ӈәтәубса (horĕ ngĕtĕubsa) Nogai: бияла (biyala) Norman: mitheux m North Frisian: späägel Northern Sami: speadjal, speajal Northern Sotho: seipônê Norwegian: Bokmål: speil (no) n Nynorsk: spegel m, skuggsjå n Occitan: miralh (oc) m, espelh m Old Church Slavonic: Cyrillic: зрьцало n (zrĭcalo) Old English: sċēawere m Oriya: ଆଇନା (aina) Ossetian: айдӕн (ajdæn), кӕсӕн (kæsæn) Ottawa: waawaabmowin Ottoman Turkish: گوزگی‎ (gözgü), آینه‎ (ayna), مرآت‎ (mirʾat) Papiamentu: spil Pashto: اينداره‎ (eindara), هنداره‎ (hendara) Persian: آیینه‎ (fa) (âyine) Piedmontese: miraj, specc Plautdietsch: Spieejel m Polish: lustro (pl) n, zwierciadło (pl) n Portuguese: espelho (pt) m Punjabi: ਸ਼ੀਸ਼ਾ (pa) m (śīśā), ਦਰਪਣ m (darpaṇ), ਆਈਨਾ (pa) m (āīnā) Quechua: rirpu Rohingya: aina, ana Romanian: oglindă (ro) f Romansch: spievel m, spieghel m, spejel m Russian: зе́ркало (ru) n (zérkalo), (archaic) зерца́ло (ru) n (zercálo) Rusyn: зеркало (zerkalo) Rwanda-Rundi: indorerwamo class 9/10 (Rwanda); ikiyo, icirori (Rundi) Sami: Kildin: зе̄ркал (z’ērkal) Kola: зеркал, кыффкэмкāррь Northern: speadjal Samoan: (please verify) aisa, (please verify) fāʻata Samogitian: zelkorios Sanskrit: दर्पण (sa) m (darpaṇa) Santali: ᱟᱹᱨᱥᱤ (ărsi) Sardinian: ipíciu m Campidanese: sprigu m Logudorese: ispregu m, isprigu m Nuorese: isprecu m, ispricu m Scots: seein-gless, mirrour Scottish Gaelic: sgàthan m Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: оглѐдало n, зр̀цало n Roman: oglèdalo (sh) n, zr̀calo (sh) n Shan: ၸမ်ႈ (shn) (tsām) Sherpa: गेलुङ (gelung) Shona: chiringiro Shor: кӱзеген (küzegen) Shuswap: ts̓exmín Sicilian: specchiu (scn) m Silesian: zdřaduo, špigel Sinhalese: ආදාසය (ādāsaya) Slovak: zrkadlo n, zrkadielko n Slovene: ogledalo (sl) n, zrcálo n Somali: muraayad f Sorbian: Lower Sorbian: glědałko n, glědałcycko n Upper Sorbian: špihel m Sotho: seipone (st) Southern Altai: кӱскӱ (küskü), кӧрӱнгӱш (körüngüš), кӧрнӧш (körnöš) Southern Sami: guelmiedahke Southern Pomo: huʔ:uy ča:duč̓i:ya:liwi Spanish: espejo (es) m Sranan Tongo: spikri Swahili: kioo (sw) class 7 Swedish: spegel (sv) Sylheti: please add this translation if you can Tabaru: kasinaa Tabasaran: гюзги (gjuzgi) Tagalog: espeho, panganinuhan, salamin Tahitian: hiʻo Tajik: оина (tg) (oyina) Tamil: கண்ணாடி (ta) (kaṇṇāṭi), ஆடி (ta) (āṭi) Tat: гузги Tatar: көзге (tt) (közge) Telugu: అద్దము (te) (addamu), అద్దం (te) (addaṁ) Ternate: kasna Thai: กระจก (th) (grà-jòk), กระจกเงา (th) (grà-jòk-ngao) Tibetan: ཤེས་སྒོ (shes sgo), མེ་ལོང (me long), མཐོང་ཤེལ (mthong shel), གདོང་ཤེལ (gdong shel), ཤེལ་ཀོ (shel ko) Tidore: kasna Tigrinya: መስትያት (mästəyat) Tocharian B: tapākye Tundra Nenets: сядобэрць’, сядобэрць’н Turkish: ayna (tr), gözgü (tr)(archaic), mirat (tr) (obsolete) Turkmen: aýna (tk) Tuvan: көрүнчүк (körünçük) Udmurt: синучкон (sinućkon), зеркал (zerkal) Ukrainian: дзе́ркало (uk) n (dzérkalo), зерца́ло n (zercálo) (ecclesiastic) Urdu: آئینہ‎ (ur) m (āīnā), شیشہ‎ m (śīśa), درپن‎ m (darpan) Uyghur: كۆزگۈ‎ (közgü), ئەينەك‎ (ug) (eynek) Uzbek: koʻzgu (uz), oyna (uz) Venetian: spècio m Veps: zerkol Vietnamese: gương (vi), kiếng (vi), kính (vi) Vilamovian: śpigel m Volapük: lok (vo), (diminutive) lokil Votic: please add this translation if you can Võro: piigli, var'okaehtus Walloon: muroe (wa) m, glaece (wa) f Waray-Waray: espiho Welsh: drych (cy) m West Frisian: spegel White Hmong: tsom iav Wolof: seetu (wo) Xhosa: isipili Yagnobi: оҳина (ohina) Yakut: сиэркилэ (sierkile) Yiddish: שפּיגל‎ m (shpigl) Yoruba: díngí Yucatec Maya: néen Yurok: chpeesher'erhl Zhuang: gingq Zulu: isibuko class 7/8

computing: exact copy of a data set

Catalan: còpia (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 鏡像／镜像 (zh) (jìngxiàng) Esperanto: spegulo (eo) Finnish: peili (fi), peilikopio, kopio (fi) French: copie (fr) f German: Kopie (de) f Greek: αναπαράσταση (el) f (anaparástasi), αντίγραφο (el) n (antígrafo) Hungarian: tükrözés Italian: copia speculare f Luxembourgish: Kopie f Macedonian: дуплика́т m (duplikát) Norwegian: Bokmål: speil (no) n Nynorsk: spegel m Portuguese: cópia (pt) f Thai: กระจก (th) (grà-jòk)

Verb

mirror (third-person singular simple present mirrors, present participle mirroring, simple past and past participle mirrored)

1. (transitive) Of an event, activity, behaviour, etc, to be identical to; to be a copy of.

   He tried to mirror Elvis's life. He copied his fashion and his mannerisms, and he even went to live in Graceland.

2. (computing, transitive) To create something identical to (a web site, etc.).
3. (transitive) To reflect, as in a mirror.

Translations

of an event, activity, behaviour.. to be identical to, be a copy of, to reflect

Bulgarian: ⦃⦃t+¦bg¦отразява즦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦⦄⦄ Catalan: duplicar (ca), copiar (ca) Finnish: kuvastaa (fi) Hungarian: utánoz (hu) Icelandic: spegla Macedonian: одразува (odrazuva), отсликува (otslikuva) Norwegian: Bokmål: speile (no) Portuguese: espelhar (pt) Turkish: taklit etmek (tr), kopyalamak (tr), yansıtmak (tr) (figurative)

(computing) to create something identical to (a web site, etc.)

Hungarian: tükröz (hu)

to reflect, as in a mirror

Bulgarian: отразявам се (otrazjavam se) French: refléter (fr) Hungarian: tükröz (hu) Portuguese: espelhar (pt) Ukrainian: віддзерка́лювати impf (viddzerkáljuvaty), віддзерка́лити pf (viddzerkályty)

See also

• cheval glass
• looking glass