| 1 | Middle French | reflexion | — |
| 2 | Late Latin | reflexio | turning away or back; reflection |
| 3 | Latin | reflectere | second-person singular future passive indicative... |
| 4 | Latin | reflecto | I turn back or away; I reflect |
| 5 | Latin | re- | back, backwards; again; prefix added to various... |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | wret- | — |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | wert- | to turn, to rotate |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | wer- | to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel |