# mirror

Pronunciation: US say "MEER-ur" /ˈmiɹ.ɚ/; UK say "MIR-uh" /ˈmɪɹ.ə/

## Noun

1. A smooth surface, usually glass with a reflective coating on the back, that reflects light to give an image of whatever is in front of it.
   - Simple: A smooth piece of glass that shows a picture of whatever is in front of it.
   - _The dancer checked her posture in the studio's full-length mirror._
   - _Telescopes use curved mirrors to gather and focus light from distant stars._
3. Something, whether a thing, a person, or an event, that reflects or depicts something else.
   - Simple: A person, thing, or event that shows what something else is really like.
   - _The novel holds up a mirror to the anxieties of its era._
   - _Voting patterns can be a mirror of a region's economic health._
5. A server or website holding a duplicate copy of the data found on another site.
   - Simple: A website or computer that keeps an exact copy of the information from another site.
   - _When the primary server crashed, users switched to a European mirror._
   - _The open-source project lists a dozen mirrors on its download page._

## Verb

2. To be identical to, be a copy of, or closely imitate another event, activity, or behavior.
   - Simple: To be the same as something else, or to copy it closely.
   - _Children often mirror the gestures and speech of the adults around them._
   - _The slump in sales mirrored the downturn of ten years earlier._
4. To reflect an image of something as a mirror does, or to match or reproduce it exactly as a mirror image, often reversed.
   - Simple: To show a copy of something the way a mirror does, or to match it with the sides reversed.
   - _In the photograph, the swan and its reflection mirror each other across the waterline._
   - _The east wing of the palace mirrors the west wing exactly._
6. To create an identical copy of a website, server, or other data resource in another location.
   - Simple: To make an exact copy of a website or other computer information in another place.
   - _Universities around the world mirror the archive to keep downloads fast for local users._
   - _The developers mirrored the entire code repository before the original site shut down._

## Other meanings

- (noun) Short for mirror carp, a variety of carp with large, shiny, irregularly scattered scales.
- (noun) A kind of political self-help book offering kings, princes, and other rulers guidance on how to behave.

## Origin

Latin mīrus ("wonderful") gave mīror ("wonder at"), and from there came Old French mirer ("look at") and mireor ("mirror," literally "looker, watcher"). This passed into Middle English as mirour. It pushed out the native Old English sċēawere, literally "watcher," which also meant "spy."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/mirror (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).