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reflex

Pronunciation: /ˈɹiːflɛks/

The English word “reflex” has 14 meanings listed here.

noun

  1. An automatic response to a simple stimulus which does not require mental processing.
  2. The descendant of an earlier language element, such as a word or phoneme, in a daughter language.
  3. The ancestor word corresponding to a descendant.
  4. The descendant of anything from an earlier time, such as a cultural myth.
  5. A reflection or an image produced by a reflection; the light reflected from an illuminated surface to one in shade.

adjective

  1. Bent, turned back or reflected.
  2. Produced automatically by a stimulus.
  3. Having greater than 180 degrees but less than 360 degrees.
  4. Illuminated by light reflected from another part of the same picture.

verb

  1. To bend back or turn back over itself.
  2. To reflect (light, sight, etc.).
  3. To reflect or mirror (an object), to show the image of.
  4. To cast (beams of light) on something.
  5. To respond to a stimulus.

Etymology

From Late Latin reflexus, past participle of reflectere (“to bend back”), equivalent to re- + flex. Photography sense is from noun sense meaning “reflection”. Compare English reflect.

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Definitions are from Wiktionary, extracted by Kaikki.org, and are available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.