reflection
/ɹɪˈflekʃən/rih-FLEK-shuhn
/ɹɪˈflɛkʃən/rih-FLEK-shuhn
Meaningthe act or result of reflecting
Common meaning: the act or result of reflecting (inferred)
- reagain; back
- flectto bendLewis & Short, Latin Dictionary (1879), p. 758 · scan
- ionnoun ending: act or result
‘again’ + ‘to bend’ → reflection
Journey through time
- Latinflectō, flexī, flexum‘to bend’
- Englishreflect‘to throw back light’
- Englishformed in English from reflectreflection‘the act or result of reflecting (inferred)’ · today
Sources & notes
Inferred source: no dictionary we use has an entry for this exact word. Its history is worked out from closely related, listed words in the same family, and we are trusting that link, so bear that in mind. Inferred meaning: the act or result of reflecting. It can be inferred from any of: reflect.
Meaning: “Meaning” is the sense that emerges from the word’s roots; “Common meaning” is today’s everyday sense. Both written by us.
Pronunciation
- UK IPA: converted from the US form by rule (unchecked). Respelling: generated.
- No UK recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-GB voice.
- US IPA: CMUdict (BSD-2), converted to IPA by rule. Respelling: generated.
- No US recording; the speaker uses your device’s en-US voice.
Origin: Formed in English from reflect + -ion (inferred: this exact word is not listed in our dictionaries).
Roots
- flectō, flexī, flexum Latin “to bend”
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