mirret

A Middle English form of myrrh. mirror (mir'or), n. [Early mod. E. also mirrour, myrror; It. mirare = Sp. Pg. mirar = F. mirer ), look at, been used for decoration of the person, being sewed to the material of the dre and serving as larger and more brilliant spangles; they have also been used in the inte rior decoration of buildings, especially in Persia and the East Indies. (Compare ardish.) The common method of preparing gla mirrors is to coat one side of the gla with an amalgam of tin and mercury (called silvering ); but mirrors are now often made by depositing pure silver on the gla . 3783 vex mirror. See axisl. - Claude Lorrain mirror, a blackened convex gla designed to show the effect of a landscape reflected in somewhat exaggerated perspective: so called from the fancied similarity of its effects to the pictures of Claude Lorrain (1600-82), a landscape-painter celebrated for his rendering of sunlight and shadow and light-effects in general. Also called Claude gla . Con jugate mirrors. See conjugate. - Cylindrical mirror. See cylindric. - Easel-mirror, a small mirror having a prop or foot fastened to the back of it by a hinge so that, at pleasure, the mirror may be set up on one edge. - Magic mirror. ( a ) A mirror in which, in various systems of fortune-telling or divination, a person was supposed to see reflected scenes in his future life, or an answer to some question. (b) A Japanese mirror of cast-metal, which, when made to reflect the sun's rays upon a screen at a proper distance, shows in the reflection bright images which are counterparts of raised figures or characters on the back of the mirror. These, like all Japanese mirrors, are generally circular in form, are about one eighth of an inch thick in the thinnest part, and are usually surrounded on the back by a raised rim. The surface of the mirror is generally slightly convex, and coated with an amalgam of mercury and the metal forming the mirror. The surface is locally modified in its curvature by the characters, either by the shrinkage of the metal in cooling, or by its deform a tion in the proce of amalgamation or of polishing. Only a few of the mirrors which apparently answer to the general description in respect to their construction po e the "magic" property in any great degree. - So emmer ing's mirror, in microscopy, a plane mirror of polished steel, smaller than the pupil of the eye, placed before the eyepiece of the microscope to be used like the camera lucid a in making drawings. mirror (mir'or), v. t. [ Bending to her open eyes, Where he was mirror'd small in paradise. Keats , Lamia, ii. Now in this mirrour loke zou soo; In zoure free wille the choice lijs. To heuen or helle whither ze wille goo. IMG:content-0698.png:[blocks in formation] of which the surface of the mirror forms a part. Rays proceeding from a luminous point upon the axis beyond the center ( L in fig. 2) are reflected to a focus, f, between the center and F; and these two points are called conjugate foci, since they are in- L terchangeable; a luminous body at Lhas a real inverted and diminished image form Fig. 2. C , center; F , focus. ed at f. If, however, the luminous body be at f, the image is formed at L, also real and inverted, but magnified. If the luminous body is at F, the principal focus, the reflected rays are sent out in parallel lines; if nearer the mirror than F, the rays after reflection are divergent, and the image is virtual, erect, and magnified. In a concave parabolic mirror parallel rays are brought exactly to a focus at the geometrical focus; hence this form is suitable for reflectors, as in the headlight of a locomotive. The images formed by convex mirrors are always virtual and smaller than the object. 3. Figuratively, that in or by which anything is shown or exemplified; hence, a pattern; an exemplar. That book [the Koran] seythe also that Jesu was sent from God alle myghty for to ben Myrour and Ensample and Tokne to alle men. Mandeville , Travels, p. 133. How farest thou, mirror of all martial men? Shak., 1 Hen. VI., i. 4. 74. 4. In arch., a small oval ornament surrounded by a concave molding; a simple form of cartouche.-5. In ornith., same as speculum. Arch i me dean mirror, a mirror intended for burning an enemy's ships or hoardings: proposed or e ayed more than once in the middle ages, in imitation of the mirrors mentioned by Lucian as used by Arch i me des. Grose, Mil. Antiq., II. 167.- Axis of a spherical, concave, or con mis Mirth is short and transient; cheerfulne , fixed and permanent. Those are often raised into the greatest transports of mirth who are subject to the greatest depre ions of melancholy; on the contrary, cheerfulne (though it does not give the mind such an exquisite gladne ) prevents us from falling into any depths of sorrow. Mirth is like a flash of lightning, that breaks through a gloom of clouds, and glitters for a moment; cheerfulne keeps up a kind of daylight in the mind, and fills it with a steady and perpetual serenity. Add is on, Spectator, No. 581. mirth) (merth), v. I. trans. To please or make merry. Lorde, som prayer thou kenne vs, That somewhat myght mirthe vs or mende vs. York Plays, p. 241. [ II. in trans. To rejoice. Hall i well . mirthful (merth'fül), a. [ mirth + -ful.] 1. Full of mirth or gaiety; characterized by or accompanied with merriment; jovial; festive. The Feast was serv'd: the Bowl was crown'd; To the King's Pleasure went the mirthful round. Prior , Solomon, ii. IMG:content-0699.png:[blocks in formation] Tell mirthful tales in course that fill the room with laughter. Beau , and Fl . , Maid's Tragedy, i. 1. =Syn. 1. Jovial , etc. (see jolly ), gay, gleeful, sportive, playful. mirthfully (mėrth'ful-i), adv . In a mirthful or jovial manner: as, the visitors were mirthfully disposed. mirthfulne (mèrth'fül-nes), n. The state of being mirthful; mirth; merriment. A trait which naturally goes along with inability so to conceive the future as to be influenced by the conception is a childish mirthfulne -merriment not sobered by thought of what is coming. H. Spencer, Prin. of Sociol., § 34.