Mirrorlike

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Having qualities similar to a mirror in appearance ; capable of producing a clear reflection like a mirror
2. Exhibiting characteristics of a mirror's surface ; showing a smooth and shiny quality that creates reflections
3. Possessing a surface that looks like a mirror ; displaying reflective properties that allow it to mirror images

Etymology: "Mirrorlike" is a plain compound: "mirror" with the suffix "-like" attached. The suffix goes back to Proto-Germanic ""līkaz," meaning "having the form of" or "resembling," and it survives in Old English as "-līċ," which became "-like" in Middle English. Its relative, the word for body or form, is still visible in "lich" in "lychgate," the roofed gate of a churchyard. "Mirror" has a longer and more tangled history. It comes into English through Old French "mirour" from Latin "mirare," "to look at" or "to wonder at," which is also the root of "admire" and "miracle." The lineage stretches back to the Proto-Indo-European root ""(s)meyg-," meaning "to smile" or "to laugh," probably because a looking-glass was a surface to gaze into. Put together, "mirrorlike" describes something that resembles a looking-glass in appearance, or that reflects clearly enough to act like one.

Synonyms: reflective, glassy

Antonyms: non-reflective