Reflex | Webster's Dictionary (1865)

Rē'flex, a.

adjective

a. [Lat. reflexus, p. p. of reflectere; Fr. réflexe, Pr. reflex, Sp. reflejo, It. riflesso. See REFLECT.]

Sense 1. Directed back; attended by reflection; retro-active; introspective. “A reflex act of the soul, or the turning of the intellectual eye inward upon its own actions.” Hale.

Sense 2. Produced in reaction, in resistance, or in return.

Sense 3. (Bot.) Bent back; reflected.

Sense 4. (Physiol.) Produced by stimulus without the necessary intervention of consciousness; as, the reflex contraction of the pupil of the eye when exposed to light.

Sense 5. (Paint.) Illuminated by light reflected from another part of the same picture; — said of portions of a painting.

Re-flĕx', n.

noun

n. [Lat. reflexus, It. riflesso, Sp. reflejo, Fr. reflet. See REFLECT.] 1. Reflection. [Rare.] Yon gray is not the morning's eye; 'Tis but the pale reflex of Cynthia's brow. Shak. On the depths of death there swims The reflex of a human face. Tennyson. 2. The light reflected from an enlightened surface to one in shade. Guilt.

Re-flēx', v. t.

verbtransitive

v. t. [Lat. reflectere, reflexum. See REFLECT.]

To reflect. Shak.
To bend back; to turn back. [Rare.] Gregory.