Etymograph

English

reflexive

Reflexive comes from Latin reflexus ‘turned back or away, reflected’.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEreflexus‘turned back or away, reflected’
  2. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500reflexīvus
  3. Englishearliest quotation 2025reflexive

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEreflexus‘turned back or away, reflected’
  2. Medieval Latinc. 600–1500reflexīvus
  3. Englishearliest quotation 2025reflexive

Earliest quotation: 2025, Christina Harward, Russian Offensive Campaign Assessment, April 24, 2025: “Shoigu's thinly veiled nuclear threats against NATO are part…”

Formed from reflex + -ive

Latin flectō ‘to bend, curve or bow’

Late Latin reflectō ‘to bend back’

Late Latin reflexus ‘turned back or away, reflected’

English reflex

Every English word from Latin reflexus

Today it means

adj Referring back to the subject, or having an object equal to the subject.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Latin reflexus / reflexive

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