reflective

English

Etymology

From reflect +‎ -ive.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɹɪˈflɛktɪv/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛktɪv

Adjective

reflective (comparative more reflective, superlative most reflective)

1. That reflects, or redirects back to the source.

   Mirrors are reflective.

2. Pondering, especially thinking back on the past.

   He always becomes reflective in preparation for the new year.

3. That reveals or shows; revealing; indicative of.
   • 2019, Li Huang, James Lambert, “Another Arrow for the Quiver: A New Methodology for Multilingual Researchers”, in Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, →DOI, page 3:

     In any event, the incident, and the media attention it attracted, highlights the sensitivity of language politics in Singapore and is reflective of the fact that this sensitivity extends to campus life.

4. (computing, programming) Involving reflection.
5. (grammar) Reciprocal.

Coordinate terms

• refractive

Derived terms

• reflectivity
• unreflective

Translations

That reflects, or redirects back to the source

• Bulgarian: отразяващ (bg) (otrazjavašt)
• Catalan: reflector, reflectant
• Finnish: heijastava (fi)
• Galician: reflector m
• Irish: frithchaiteach
• Portuguese: reflexivo (pt) m
• Romanian: reflectiv
• Spanish: reflexivo (es), reflectante
• Swedish: speglande (sv)
• Turkish: yansıtıcı (tr)
• Welsh: adlewyrchol (cy)

Pondering, especially thinking back on the past

• Bulgarian: замислен (bg) (zamislen)
• Esperanto: pripensa, pripensema
• Finnish: mietteliäs (fi)
• French: réflectif (fr)
• Greek: αναστοχαστικός (el) (anastochastikós)
• Irish: cuimhneach
• Italian: riflessivo (it)
• Spanish: reflexivo (es)