mirror means 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. It carries an Arena rating of 1704, earned across 7 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, mirror ranks #33 of 17,134 for Most Malleable Words, #411 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #1,154 of 17,142 for Most Ingenious Words, #1,537 of 17,127 for Most Vivid Words.
mirror is pronounced /ˈmɪɹə/.
Why “mirror” is a great word
A smooth surface, typically of glass with a reflective backing, that forms an image by reflecting light, or to reflect or accurately represent something. From Middle English *mirour*, from Old French *mireor* ("mirror," literally "looker, watcher"), from *mirer* ("to look at"), from Latin *mīror* ("to wonder at"), from *mīrus* ("wonderful"), from Proto-Indo-European *smey-* ("to laugh, to be glad"), first attested in English in the early 13th century. Unlike "looking-glass," with its hushed intimacy of a Victorian dressing table, or "reflector," a blunt term for any bouncing surface, a mirror is both instrument and oracle. It is the cold, silvered truth of a bathroom at dawn, the perfect, inverted world trapped in a still pond, and the sudden recognition in another’s eyes of something you thought was yours alone—the moment you see yourself seen, and wonder flickers beneath the gaze.
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".
noun
- 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.e.g.“I had a look in the mirror to see if the blood had come off my face.”
- An object, person, or event that reflects or gives a picture of another.e.g.“His story is a mirror into the life of orphans growing up.”
- A website or server that contains replicated data from another site.e.g.“Although the content had been deleted from his blog, it was still found on some mirrors.”
- A mirror carp.
- An ethical-didactic treatise that details exemplary conduct through models, advising kings, princes, clergy, etc. on how to behave.
verb
- To reflect, as in a mirror.
- To act as a reflection of, either by being identical to, or by being identical but reversed.e.g.“The placement of the paintings mirrored the positions of the windows on the opposite wall.”
- Of an event, activity, behavior, to be identical to; to be a copy of; to imitate closely.e.g.“He tried to mirror Elvis's life by copying his fashion and mannerisms.”
- To create something identical to (a website, etc.).
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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