mirage

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French mirage c. 1812.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɪˈɹɑːʒ/, /mɪˈɹɑːd͡ʒ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːʒ

Noun

mirage (plural mirages)

1. An optical phenomenon in which light is refracted through a layer of hot air close to the ground, often giving the illusion of a body of water.

   Hypernym: optical illusion

   Hyponym: Fata Morgana

2. (figuratively) An illusion.
   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VI, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 68:

     I remember hearing, that in the East the clear and azure waters seem to flow before the weary and parched traveller; yet a little further, and on he urges his weary way, but in vain—the fair stream is a delusion. Even thus happiness is the mirage which leads us over the desert of life, ever fated to end in deceit and disappointment.

Derived terms

• gravitational mirage

Translations

an optical phenomenon

• Albanian: mirazh (sq) m
• Arabic: سَرَاب (ar) m (sarāb)
• Armenian: միրաժ (hy) (miraž), (rare, formal) օդատեսիլ (hy) (ōdatesil)
• Assamese: মৰীচিকা (morisika)
• Azerbaijani: miraj, ilğım, sərab
• Belarusian: міра́ж m (miráž), ма́рыва n (máryva)
• Bengali: মরীচিকা (bn) (moricika)
• Bulgarian: мира́ж (bg) m (miráž)
• Burmese: လင်းလပ် (my) (lang:lap), တံလျှပ် (my) (tamhlyap)
• Catalan: miratge (ca) m
• Cherokee: ᎠᎪᏩᏛᏗ (agowadvdi)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 海市蜃樓／海市蜃楼 (zh) (hǎishìshènlóu), 蜃景 (zh) (shènjǐng), 海市 (zh) (hǎishì), 蜃氣／蜃气 (zh) (shènqì)

• Czech: fata morgána (cs) f, přelud m
• Danish: luftspejling
• Dutch: luchtweerspiegeling f
• Esperanto: miraĝo, fatamorgano
• Estonian: miraaž
• Finnish: kangastus (fi)
• French: mirage (fr) m
• Galician: miraxe f, espellismo m
• Georgian: მირაჟი (miraži)
• German: Luftspiegelung (de) f, Fata Morgana (de) f
• Greek: αντικατοπτρισμός (el) m (antikatoptrismós), οφθαλμαπάτη (el) f (ofthalmapáti)
• Hebrew: מִירָאז׳ m (mirázh), חֶזְיוֹן תַּעְתּוּעִים m (khezyón ta'tu'ím)
• Hindi: मरीचिका (hi) f (marīcikā)
• Hungarian: délibáb (hu)
• Icelandic: hilling (is) f
• Indonesian: fatamorgana (id)
• Italian: miraggio (it) m
• Japanese: 蜃気楼 (ja) (しんきろう, shinkirō)
• Kazakh: сағым (sağym)
• Khmer: មរិចិកា (meaʔriʔceʔkaa)
• Korean: 신기루(蜃氣樓) (ko) (sin'giru)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: تِراویلکە (tirawîlke)

• Kyrgyz: закым (ky) (zakım)
• Lao: ຕາຫລອກ (tā lǭk), ພະຍັບແດດ (pha nyap dǣt)
• Latvian: mirāža f
• Lithuanian: miražas m
• Macedonian: привиде́ние n (prividénie), фатаморга́на f (fatamorgána)
• Malay: fatamorgana, logamaya
• Mongolian: зэрэглээ (mn) (zereglee)
• Navajo: hadahooneeyą́, hadahooneeyánígíí
• Norwegian: luftspeiling m
• Ottoman Turkish: سراب (serab)
• Persian: سراب (fa) (sarâb), گوراب (fa) (gurâb), تیژه (tiže), گتیر (gatir), گویر (fa) (gavir)
• Plautdietsch: Loftspieejel m
• Polish: miraż (pl) m, fatamorgana (pl) f
• Portuguese: miragem (pt) f
• Romanian: miraj (ro) n
• Russian: мира́ж (ru) m (miráž), ма́рево (ru) n (márevo), фа́та морга́на f (fáta morgána) (rare)
• Sanskrit: मरीचिका (sa) f (marīcikā)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: фатаморгана f, мираж m

  Roman: fatamorgana (sh) f, miraž (sh) m

• Slovak: fatamorgána f, prelud m
• Slovene: fatamorgana f, privid (sl) m
• Spanish: espejismo (es) m
• Swahili: sarabi, mangati
• Swedish: hägring (sv) c
• Tagalog: malikmata (tl)
• Tajik: сароб (sarob)
• Telugu: ఎండమావి (te) (eṇḍamāvi)
• Thai: มิราจ (mírâat), ภาพลวงตา (th) (pâappáluang dtaa)
• Turkish: serap (tr), ılgım (tr)
• Turkmen: sagym, salgym
• Ukrainian: міра́ж m (miráž), ма́рево n (márevo)
• Urdu: سراب (sarāb)
• Uzbek: sarob (uz)
• Vietnamese: ảo ảnh (vi)
• Volapük: magälod (vo)
• Yiddish: אָפּדוכט m (opdukht), אויסווײַזעניש n (oysvayzenish)

illusion — see illusion

Verb

mirage (third-person singular simple present mirages, present participle miraging, simple past and past participle miraged)

1. (transitive) To cause to appear as or like a mirage.
   • 1915, E. Phillips Oppenheim, Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo‎^[1]:

     All that had been in his mind seemed suddenly miraged before him—the removal of Hunterleys, his own wife's failing health.

   • 1901, A. E. W. Mason, Ensign Knightley and Other Stories‎^[2]:

     The vision of a salon was miraged before her, with herself in the middle deftly manipulating the destinies of a nation.

References

• “mirage, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Further reading

• mirage on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Margie, gamier, imager, maigre

French

Etymology

From mirer +‎ -age.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mi.ʁaʒ/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

Noun

mirage m (plural mirages)

1. mirage

Descendants

• → Catalan: miratge
• → English: mirage
• → Estonian: miraaž
• → Galician: miraxe
• → Italian: miraggio
• → Polish: miraż
• → Portuguese: miragem
• → Romanian: miraj
• → Russian: мира́ж (miráž)
• → Spanish: miraje

Further reading

• “mirage”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• émigra
• gémira
• germai
• maigre