mirror (English)
Where does "mirror" come from?
The English word mirror traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root *smey-, which meant 'to laugh' or 'to be glad.' This evolved into the Latin mīror, meaning 'to marvel at,' before entering Old French as mireor, a 'watcher' or 'looker.' Eventually adopted into Middle English, the word displaced the native 'schewere' to become our modern term for a reflective surface.
Full etymology tree
- mirror (English), 'A smooth surface, usually made of glass with reflective material painted on the underside, that reflects light so as to give an image of what is in front of it.'
- inherited mirour (Middle English), 'A mirror, looking-glass, or other reflective surface.'
- learned borrowing mireor (Old French), 'mirror'
- suffix mirer (Old French), 'to look at; to watch'
- inherited mirari (Latin), 'present active infinitive of mīror'
- derived mirus (Latin), 'wonderful, marvelous, amazing, surprising, miraculous'
- inherited *smeiros (Proto-Italic)
- inherited *sméyros (Proto-Indo-European)
- derived *(s)mey- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to laugh, to be glad'
- inherited *sméyros (Proto-Indo-European)
- inherited *smeiros (Proto-Italic)
- derived mirus (Latin), 'wonderful, marvelous, amazing, surprising, miraculous'
- inherited mirari (Latin), 'present active infinitive of mīror'
- suffix -eor (Old French), 'alternative form of -or (suffix indicating an agent noun)'
- suffix mirer (Old French), 'to look at; to watch'
- learned borrowing mireor (Old French), 'mirror'
- inherited mirour (Middle English), 'A mirror, looking-glass, or other reflective surface.'
Direct ancestors
- (s)mey- (Proto-Indo-European)
- mirour (Middle English)
- mireor (Old French)
- miror (Latin)
- sceawere (Old English)
Updated June 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris