Reflect Means to Bend Back
To reflect is to throw light back, and to think carefully. The Latin means to bend back, which fits both a mirror and a mind.
To reflect is to throw back light, heat or sound — and also to think something over. The Latin *reflectere* means to bend back, and the mental sense is the same movement applied inwards: reflection is thought bending back on itself. *On reflection* means after that bending has happened.
- To throw back light or sound. *The lake reflects the sky.*
- To think carefully. *Reflect on what happened.*
- To show or express. *The figures reflect a slowdown.*
- To bring credit or discredit. *It reflects badly on the school.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | reflect | Reflect the light. |
| Past | reflected | Reflected in the glass. |
| Noun | reflection | A moment's reflection. |
| Adjective | reflective | A reflective essay. |
| Noun | reflector | A bicycle reflector. |
How it is used in a sentence
- On reflection, I think she was right.After thinking it over.
- The mirror reflects the whole room.Optics.
- The delay reflects a shortage of parts.Meaning it results from and shows.
The bending family
- Reflect — bend back
- Deflect — bend aside
- Inflect — bend, as in changing a word's form
- Flexible — able to bend
- Genuflect — bend the knee
From Latin *reflectere*, to bend back, from *re-* and *flectere*, to bend. The mental sense appeared in English in the seventeenth century.
Reflection or reflexion?
Reflection is standard everywhere. Reflexion is an old British variant now rarely seen.
Reflect on or reflect upon?
Both are correct. Upon is slightly more formal and no more precise.