Added 8 October 2026

mirror

/ˈmɪɹə/ noun

In Latin: speculum Wiktionary

noun Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about mirror at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

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.
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.
A website or server that contains replicated data from another site.
Although the content had been deleted from his blog, it was still found on some mirrors.

To reflect, as in a mirror.
To act as a reflection of, either by being identical to, or by being identical but reversed.
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.
He tried to mirror Elvis's life by copying his fashion and mannerisms.

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".