Etymology Explorer › Old French

Where does “reflect” come from?

reflect (Old French) comes from Latin reflecto, from Latin re-, from Proto-Indo-European wret-, from Proto-Indo-European wert-, from Proto-Indo-European wer- — to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel.

reflect (Old French): to bend back, turn back

Definitions

  1. to bend back, turn back

Ancestry of “reflect”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1LatinreflectoI turn back or away; I reflect
2Latinre-back, backwards; again; prefix added to various...
3Proto-Indo-Europeanwret-—
4Proto-Indo-Europeanwert-to turn, to rotate
5Proto-Indo-Europeanwer-to burn; to cover, heed, notice; squirrel

Words derived from “reflect”

  • reflect
  • reflective
  • reflector
  • reflectance
  • reflectively
  • reflectivity
  • unreflective
  • reflectiveness
  • reflectarray
  • unreflectively
  • reflectometry
  • nonreflective
  • reflectron
  • reflectometer
  • reflectography
  • irreflective
  • antireflective
  • retroreflector
  • reflectivist
  • retroreflective
  • reflectogram
  • reflecteth
  • hyperreflectivity
  • hyperreflective
Every word from Proto-Indo-European wer- →