Word
mirror
Phoneticsmir·ror
US/ˈmɪɹɝ/
UK/mˈɪɹɐ/
Definitions
01reflective glass
n. a piece of glass with a special coating that shows you an image of yourself when you look at it.
n. a polished or smooth surface, typically of glass with a metallic backing, that reflects light to form an image of objects in front of it.
“He looked in the bathroom mirror to check his hair before the interview.”
“The ornate silver-framed mirror in the hallway was angled to catch the afternoon light, making the narrow space appear significantly larger.”
Synonyms
02a reflection or representation
n. something that shows a clear picture or example of something else.
n. a person, object, or event that provides a faithful representation or reflection of another entity or situation.
“The city's busy streets are a mirror of its growing economy.”
“The protagonist's internal struggle serves as a mirror of the societal tensions prevalent during the post-war era.”
Synonyms
03data replica
n. a website or server that keeps an exact copy of the data from another site to help with traffic.
n. a network server or website that contains a duplicate set of files from another server to reduce latency or provide a backup.
“If the main download site is too slow, try using the European mirror.”
“The university maintains several mirrors of the open-source repository to ensure that local students can access the software without consuming international bandwidth.”
Technical
04to reflect an image
v. to show an image of something on a surface like water or glass.
v. to reflect an image of something on a surface. Transitive — requires a direct object.
“The still water of the lake mirrored the mountains perfectly.”
“The glass facade of the skyscraper mirrored the shifting clouds, creating a dynamic visual effect that changed with the weather.”
Synonyms
05to match or imitate
v. to be very similar to something else or to copy someone's behavior.
v. to correspond to or represent something else in a very similar way; to imitate a pattern or behavior closely.
“The child's movements mirrored his father's as they walked together.”
“The company's recent decline in profits mirrors a broader trend across the entire manufacturing sector this quarter.”
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".
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Idioms
do with mirrors — To perform a magic or optical trick with the use of hidden mirrors, implying trickery and sham.
fog a mirror — To be alive.
The word in film
The Mirror · 1975 · Biography
- Directed by:
- Andrei Tarkovsky
- Starring:
- Innokenty Smoktunovsky, Oleg Yankovsky, Arseny Tarkovsky
Andrei Tarkovsky directed this 1970s biographical drama that uses memories and dreams to reflect the life of a dying poet. The story acts as a visual representation of the protagonist's childhood and the history of the Soviet Union.