Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A surface capable of reflecting sufficient undiffused light to form an image of an object placed in front of it. Also called looking glass.
- n. Something that faithfully reflects or gives a true picture of something else.
- n. Something worthy of imitation.
- v. To reflect in or as if in a mirror: "The city mirrors many of the greatest moments of Western culture” ( Olivier Bernier).
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A polished surface, as of metal, or of glass backed by a metal or other opaque substance, used to reflect objects, especially to reflect the face or person as an aid in making the toilet. The mirrors of the ancients were of polished metal, as are those of the Japanese and some other Oriental nations. Glass mirrors, consisting of transparent glass with a backing of metal to act as the reflecting surface, did not become common until the sixteenth century. Mirrors have been used for decoration of the person, being sewed to the material of the dress and serving as larger and more brilliant spangles; they have also been used in the interior decoration of buildings, especially in Persia and the East Indies. (Compare
ardish .) The common method of preparing glass mirrors is to coat one side of the glass with an amalgam of tin and mercury (calledsilvering ); but mirrors are now often made by depositing pure silver on the glass. - n. Specifically, in optics, a surface of glass or polished substance that forms images by the reflection of rays of light; a speculum. Optical mirrors are plane, convex, or concave. A plane mirror gives a virtual image whose apparent position is on the opposite side of the mirror from the reflected body and at an equal distance from it. A concave spherical mirror (supposing that it includes only a small part of a huge spherical surface) reflects rays parallel to its axis, as those from the sun, to a point (F in fig. 1) called the principal focus, whose distance from the mirror is equal to half the radius of the sphere of which the surface of the mirror forms a part. Rays proceeding from a luminous point upon the axis beyond the center (L in fig. 2) are reflected to a focus, f, between the center and F; and these two points are called
conjugate foci , since they are interchangeable; a luminous body at L has a real inverted and diminished image formed at feminine If, however, the luminous body be at f, the image is formed at L, also real and inverted, but magnified. If the luminous body is at F, the principal focus, the reflected rays are sent out in parallel lines; if nearer the mirror than F, the rays after reflection are divergent, and the image is virtual, erect, and magnified. In a concave parabolic mirror parallel rays are brought exactly to a focus at the geometrical focus; hence this form is suitable for reflectors, as in the headlight of a locomotive. The images formed by convex mirrors are always virtual and smaller than the object. - n. Figuratively, that in or by which anything is shown or exemplified; hence, a pattern; an exemplar.
- n. In architecture, a small oval ornament surrounded by a concave molding; a simple form of cartouche.
- n. In ornithology, same as speculum.
- n. A Japanese mirror of cast-metal, which, when made to reflect the sun's rays upon a screen at a proper distance, shows in the reflection bright images which are counterparts of raised figures or characters on the back of the mirror. These, like all Japanese mirrors, are generally circular in form, are about one eighth of an inch thick in the thinnest part, and are usually surrounded on the back by a raised rim. The surface of the mirror is generally slightly convex, and coated with an amalgam of mercury and the metal forming the mirror. The surface is locally modified in its curvature by the characters, either by the shrinkage of the metal in cooling, or by its deformation in the process of amalgamation or of polishing. Only a few of the mirrors which apparently answer to the general description in respect to their construction possess the “magic” property in any great degree.Soemmering's mirror, in microscopy, a plane mirror of polished steel, smaller than the pupil of the eye, placed before the eyepiece of the microscope to be used like the camera lucida in making drawings.
- To reflect in or as in a mirror.
- n. A glass backed with an amalgam of tin or silver.
Wiktionary
- n. 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.
- n. figuratively an object, person, or event that reflects or gives a picture of another.
- n. computing An exact copy of a data set, especially a website.
- v. transitive Of an event, activity, behaviour, etc, to be identical to, to be a copy of.
- v. computing, transitive To create something identical to (a web site, etc.).
- v. To reflect.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A looking-glass or a speculum; any glass or polished substance that forms images by the reflection of rays of light.
- n. That which gives a true representation, or in which a true image may be seen; hence, a pattern; an exemplar.
- n. (Zoöl.) See Speculum.
- v. To reflect, as in a mirror.
- v. To copy or duplicate; to mimic or imitate.
- v. To have a close resemblance to.
WordNet 3.0
- n. polished surface that forms images by reflecting light
- v. reflect as if in a mirror
- v. reflect or resemble
- n. a faithful depiction or reflection
Etymologies
- From Middle English mirour, from Old French mireor, from mirer, to look at, from Latin mīror ("wonder at"), from mīrus ("wonderful"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English mirour, from Old French mireor, from mirer, to look at, from Latin mīrārī, to wonder at, from mīrus, wonderful; see smei- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The light that passes through this mirror is the laser beam.”
“Next to this mirror is a 20 foot version, like a child next to its mother, and a colossal 200 foot wall which only has one other like it, and that's in Malta.”
“I am Intendant Kira Nerys of the ISS Andromeda, and from what you call the mirror universe.”
“Seeing one's reflection in the computer screen as clearly as in a mirror is a major distraction and annoyance.”
“This mirror is at the core of what he calls the Nawatl Topological Scheme, which is a wheel that is divided into four different dimensions, with a fifth at its center that is produced by the interrelation of the others.”
“Initially, I didn't find its ornate, elaborate style terribly appealing, but a mirror is a mirror and it was useful in our bedroom.”
“So he came there, and I gave him a mirror like that, in a box, which I call a mirror box, right?”
“What you do is you create what I call a mirror box.”
“Conferences", which he called a mirror of monasticism (speculum monasticum), to be read daily in his monasteries.”
“That's what I call the mirror of health," said Langdon, in an unwonted burst of poetic eloquence, as he passed his hand across the horse's ribs.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘mirror’.
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Visuals
A list of words which yield surprising, beautiful, amusing, or otherwise noteworthy images here on Wordnik.
photochrom, fufluns, thank you, cool l..., postcard, picture postcard, cricket, physiological ill..., Gakuryū Ishii, ametropia, One Froggy Evening, rhodopsin, Santiago Calatrava and 636 more...
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Sweet tooth fairy dominoes
As originally suggested on sweet tooth fairy domino:
Each person adds one word trying to create a single, potentially infinite sweet tooth fairy (please look it up if you are not familiar wit...banana, boat, house, arrest, warrant, peace, sign, post, box, clever, Hans, device and 119 more...
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TECH - furniture
The universe as IKEA sees it.
Furniture, haberdashery, household articles and a lot more. The bulk of the list (750 entries) are IKEA articles in the original English version IKEA use...active-response c..., add-on-unit for s..., adjustable slatte..., alarm clock, alkaline battery, anti-slip socks, anti-slip underlay, armchair, armrest, artificial flower, artificial garland, artificial plant ... and 830 more...
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lasers
words associated with LASERS.
( open list, randomness )
NOTE: i'd like to keep the list specific to the LASER itself (Any LASER), and leave out applied sciences..
sp...electromagnetism, light, wavelength, phase, frequency, polarization, emission, optical, spectroscopy, lase, crystal, projection and 61 more...
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In Cars
I've never learned how to drive or care for a car, but I recently inherited one that probably needs some work. Here's a list of vocabulary words I'll need to learn.
wheel, axle, steering wheel, seat, engine, windshield wiper, stick shift, limited slip diff..., catalytic converter, exhaust, trunk, window and 55 more...
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Pretty Words
Words that sound pretty.
ethereal, ephemeral, iridescent, shimmer, wisp, whisper, charisma, crescent, azure, mystery, fantasy, miracle and 142 more...
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Flutter
tuberose, golden apple, apple cider, unicorn, extraordinary, Pleiades, Merope, speckle, glitter, rose, pitter-pat, whale and 314 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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Masthead Staples
Words from newspaper names/titles. Not the place names or titles of specific publications, just the reusable bits.
times, courier, advocate, news, telegraph, mirror, mail, bulletin, the, post, tribune, chronical and 108 more...
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Words Covered in Faery Dust (M)
words that evoke magic, mystery, mayhem, magnificence or anything else that glimmers in the grass
mace, macintosh, madras, magenta, magic 8 ball, magma, mahogany, maiden, mail, mainsail, maize, malachite and 169 more...
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Most of the Nouns from Joanna Newsom'...
meadowlark, sparrow, spree, pharoah, pharisees, comb, meadow, pines, marrow, bones, birches, spires and 95 more...
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katiefallwest's Words
facetious, hallows, snarky, literati, cantankerous, gryphon, esoteric, fortuitous, impetus, ubiquitous, muggle, colour and 144 more...
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Two years
Okay, I admit it. I made a list of words my daughter knew when she was two years old.
bat, baba, a, abalone, about, acorn, adrienne, after, again, airplane, alison, all and 694 more...
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katiad's Words
exquisite, obnoxious, noxious, extravaganza, whirlwind, whirling, wild, spinster, existential, chaos, zephyr, blasphemy and 310 more...
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Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
a, abandon, ability, able, abortion, about, above, abroad, absence, absolute, absolutely, absorb and 4334 more...
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sputnik
canoodle, span, hasten, discombobulate, sputnik, clod, encrusted, spit-shine, zeitgeist, landslide, laid, cherish and 350 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for mirror.

bilby
They ask (but inwardly; they make no sound)
The meaning of these mysteries that confound
Their puzzled ignorance - how is it true
That 'we' is not distinguished here from 'you'?
And silently their shining Lord replies:
'I am a mirror set before your eyes,
And all who come before my splendor see
Themselves, their own unique reality;
- Farid ud-Din Attar, 'The Conference of the Birds', translation by Afkham Darbandi and Dick Davis. Nov 23, 2008