reflect

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Reflected; p. pr. & vb. n. Reflecting. ] [ L. reflectere, reflexum; pref. re- re- + flectere to bend or turn. See Flexible, and cf. Reflex, v. ] 1. To bend back; to give a backwa&unr_;d turn to; to throw back; especially, to cause to return after striking upon any surface; as, a mirror reflects rays of light; polished metals reflect heat. [ 1913 Webster ]

Let me mind the reader to reflect his eye on our quotations. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

Bodies close together reflect their own color. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To give back an image or likeness of; to mirror. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nature is the glass reflecting God,
As by the sea reflected is the sun. Young. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Thrown back after striking a surface; as, reflected light, heat, sound, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence: Not one's own; received from another; as, his glory was reflected glory. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Bent backward or outward; reflexed. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. reflectens, p. pr. of reflectere. See Reflect. ] 1. Bending or flying back; reflected. “The ray descendent, and the ray reflectent flying with so great a speed.” Sir K. Digby. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Reflecting; as, a reflectent body. Sir K. Digby. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Capable of being reflected, or thrown back; reflexible. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. 1. Throwing back light, heat, etc., as a mirror or other surface. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Given to reflection or serious consideration; reflective; contemplative; as, a reflecting mind. [ 1913 Webster ]

Reflecting circle, an astronomical instrument for measuring angless, like the sextant or Hadley's quadrant, by the reflection of light from two plane mirrors which it carries, and differing from the sextant chiefly in having an entire circle. --
Reflecting galvanometer, a galvanometer in which the deflections of the needle are read by means of a mirror attached to it, which reflects a ray of light or the image of a scale; -- called also mirror galvanometer. --
Reflecting goniometer. See under Goniometer. --
Reflecting telescope. See under Telescope. [ 1913 Webster ]

adv. With reflection; also, with censure; reproachfully. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ L. reflexio: cf. F. réflexion. See Riflect. ] [ Written also reflexion. ] 1. The act of reflecting, or turning or sending back, or the state of being reflected. Specifically: (a) The return of rays, beams, sound, or the like, from a surface. See Angle of reflection, below. [ 1913 Webster ]

The eye sees not itself,
But by reflection, by some other things. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

(b) The reverting of the mind to that which has already occupied it; continued consideration; meditation; contemplation; hence, also, that operation or power of the mind by which it is conscious of its own acts or states; the capacity for judging rationally, especially in view of a moral rule or standard. [ 1913 Webster ]

By reflection, . . . I would be understood to mean, that notice which the mind takes of its own operations, and the manner of them, by reason whereof there come to be ideas of these operations in the understanding. Locke. [ 1913 Webster ]

This delight grows and improves under thought and reflection. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Shining; brightness, as of the sun. [ Obs. ] Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. That which is produced by reflection. Specifically: (a) An image given back from a reflecting surface; a reflected counterpart. [ 1913 Webster ]

As the sun water we can bear,
Yet not the sun, but his reflection, there. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

(b) A part reflected, or turned back, at an angle; as, the reflection of a membrane. (c) Result of meditation; thought or opinion after attentive consideration or contemplation; especially, thoughts suggested by truth. [ 1913 Webster ]

Job's reflections on his once flourishing estate did at the same time afflict and encourage him. Atterbury. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. Censure; reproach cast. [ 1913 Webster ]

He died; and oh! may no reflection shed
Its poisonous venom on the royal dead. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Physiol.) The transference of an excitement from one nerve fiber to another by means of the nerve cells, as in reflex action. See Reflex action, under Reflex. [ 1913 Webster ]

Angle of reflection, the angle which anything, as a ray of light, on leaving a reflecting surface, makes with the perpendicular to the surface. --
Angle of total reflection. (Opt.) Same as Critical angle, under Critical. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Meditation; contemplation; rumination; cogitation; consideration; musing; thinking. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. réflectif. Cf. Reflexive. ] 1. Throwing back images; as, a reflective mirror. [ 1913 Webster ]

In the reflective stream the sighing bride, viewing her charms. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Capable of exercising thought or judgment; as, reflective reason. Prior. [ 1913 Webster ]

His perceptive and reflective faculties . . . thus acquired a precocious and extraordinary development. Motley. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Addicted to introspective or meditative habits; as, a reflective person. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Gram.) Reflexive; reciprocal. [ 1913 Webster ]

-- Re*flect"ive*ly, adv. -- Re*flect"ive*ness, n. “Reflectiveness of manner.” J. C. Shairp. [ 1913 Webster ]