reflexive

See also: réflexive

English

Etymology

From Medieval Latin reflexīvus, from Latin reflexus.

Pronunciation

• enPR: rəflĕk'sĭv, IPA^(key): /ɹəˈflɛksɪv/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Adjective

reflexive (not comparable)

1. (grammar) Referring back to the subject, or having an object equal to the subject.
2. (mathematics) Of a relation R on a set S, such that xRx for all members x of S (that is, the relation holds between any element of the set and itself).

   "Equals" is a reflexive relation, as it holds for all possible x; "not less" is non-reflexive because it is true only for some x and y, "unequal" is irreflexive, as it never holds between x and itself.

3. Of or resulting from a reflex.

   The electric shock elicited an automatic and reflexive response from him.

4. (figurative) Producing immediate response, spontaneous.

   a reflexive dislike

5. Synonym of reflective

Antonyms

• irreflexive, non-reflexive, nonreflexive

Derived terms

• reflexive law
• reflexive possessive
• reflexive possessive pronoun
• reflexive pronoun
• reflexive statement
• reflexive verb
• reflexivity

 

Related terms

• (set theory): symmetric
• (set theory): transitive
• irreflexive

Translations

in grammar

Belarusian: зваро́тны (zvarótny) Bulgarian: възвра́тен (bg) (vǎzvráten) Catalan: reflexiu (ca) Czech: zvratný Dutch: wederkerend (nl) Faroese: afturbendur Finnish: refleksiivinen (fi) French: réfléchi (fr) Georgian: უკუქცევითი (uḳukceviti) German: rückbezüglich (de), reflexiv (de) Greek: αυτοπαθής (el) (aftopathís) Hungarian: visszaható (hu) Icelandic: afturbeygður (is) Irish: aisfhillteach, frithluaileach Japanese: 再帰的 (saiki-teki) Lithuanian: sangrąžinis (lt) Macedonian: рефлексивен (refleksiven) Mongolian: эгэх (mn) (egex) Norwegian: refleksiv (no) Persian: please add this translation if you can Polish: zwrotny (pl) Portuguese: reflexivo (pt) Romanian: reflexiv (ro) Romansch: reflexiv Russian: возвра́тный (ru) (vozvrátnyj), рефлекси́вный (ru) (refleksívnyj) Scottish Gaelic: ath-fhillteach Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: повратан Roman: povratan (sh) Slovak: zvratný Slovene: povraten Spanish: reflexivo (es) Swedish: reflexiv (sv) Turkish: dönüşlü (tr) Ukrainian: зворо́тний (uk) (zvorótnyj) Zazaki: çerxın

in mathematics

Czech: reflexivní (cs) Finnish: refleksiivinen (fi) German: reflexiv (de) Icelandic: sjálfhverfur, spegilvirkur Japanese: 反射的 (ja) (はんしゃてき, hanshateki) Polish: zwrotny (pl) Portuguese: reflexivo (pt) Romanian: reflexiv (ro) Russian: рефлекси́вный (ru) (refleksívnyj) Slovene: refleksíven Swedish: reflexiv (sv) Tagalog: pabalik

resulting from a reflex

Bulgarian: рефлективен (reflektiven) Czech: reflexivní (cs) Greek: αντανακλαστικός (el) (antanaklastikós)

Noun

reflexive (plural reflexives)

1. (grammar) A reflexive pronoun.
2. (grammar) A reflexive verb.

Translations

reflexive pronoun — see reflexive pronoun

reflexive verb — see reflexive verb

See also

• (verb): active, passive, neuter, transitive, intransitive

Further reading

• reflexive on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Reflexive pronoun on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Reflexive verb on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

German

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

reflexive

1. inflection of reflexiv:
   1. strong/mixed nominative/accusative feminine singular
   2. strong nominative/accusative plural
   3. weak nominative all-gender singular
   4. weak accusative feminine/neuter singular

Latin

Etymology 1

Adverb

reflexīvē (not comparable)

1. reflexively

Etymology 2

Adjective

reflexīve

1. vocative masculine singular of reflexīvus