English

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Etymology

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Unadapted borrowing from French mirage c. 1812.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /mɪˈɹɑːʒ/, /mɪˈɹɑːd͡ʒ/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ɑːʒ

Noun

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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

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Translations

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Verb

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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

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Further reading

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Anagrams

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French

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Etymology

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From mirer +‎ -age.

Pronunciation

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Noun

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mirage m (plural mirages)

  1. mirage

Descendants

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

Further reading

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Anagrams

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