mirage

English

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French mirage c. 1812.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɪˈɹɑːʒ/, /məˈɹɑːʒ/, /mɪˈɹɑːd͡ʒ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːʒ

Noun

mirage (plural mirages)

1. An optical phenomenon in which light is refracted through a layer of hot air close to the ground, often giving the illusion of a body of water.

   Hypernym: optical illusion

   Hyponym: Fata Morgana

2. (figuratively) An illusion.
   • 1834, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter VI, in Francesca Carrara. […], volume I, London: Richard Bentley, […], (successor to Henry Colburn), →OCLC, page 68:

     I remember hearing, that in the East the clear and azure waters seem to flow before the weary and parched traveller; yet a little further, and on he urges his weary way, but in vain—the fair stream is a delusion. Even thus happiness is the mirage which leads us over the desert of life, ever fated to end in deceit and disappointment.

Derived terms

• gravitational mirage
• red mirage

Translations

an optical phenomenon

Albanian: mirazh (sq) m Arabic: سَرَاب (ar) m (sarāb) Armenian: միրաժ (hy) (miraž), (rare, formal) օդատեսիլ (hy) (ōdatesil) Assamese: মৰীচিকা (morisika) Azerbaijani: miraj, ilğım, sərab Belarusian: міра́ж m (miráž), ма́рыва n (máryva) Bengali: মরীচিকা (bn) (moricika) Bulgarian: мира́ж (bg) m (miráž) Burmese: လင်းလပ် (my) (lang:lap), တံလျှပ် (my) (tamhlyap) Catalan: miratge (ca) m Cherokee: ᎠᎪᏩᏛᏗ (agowadvdi) Chinese: Mandarin: 海市蜃樓 / 海市蜃楼 (zh) (hǎishìshènlóu), 蜃景 (zh) (shènjǐng), 海市 (zh) (hǎishì), 蜃氣 / 蜃气 (zh) (shènqì) Cornish: miraj m Czech: fata morgána (cs) f, přelud m Danish: luftspejling Dutch: luchtspiegeling (nl) f Esperanto: miraĝo, fatamorgano Estonian: miraaž Finnish: kangastus (fi) French: mirage (fr) m Galician: miraxe f, espellismo m Georgian: მირაჟი (miraži) German: Luftspiegelung (de) f, Fata Morgana (de) f Greek: αντικατοπτρισμός (el) m (antikatoptrismós), οφθαλμαπάτη (el) f (ofthalmapáti) Hebrew: מִירָאז׳ m (mirázh), חֶזְיוֹן תַּעְתּוּעִים m (khezyón ta'tu'ím) Hindi: मरीचिका (hi) f (marīcikā) Hungarian: délibáb (hu) Icelandic: hilling (is) f Indonesian: fatamorgana (id) Italian: miraggio (it) m Japanese: 蜃気楼 (ja) (しんきろう, shinkirō) Kalmyk: эрәлҗн (eräljn) Kazakh: сағым (sağym) Khmer: មរិចិកា (meaʔriʔceʔkaa) Korean: 신기루(蜃氣樓) (ko) (sin'giru) Kurdish: Central Kurdish: تِراویلکە (tirawîlke) Kyrgyz: закым (ky) (zakım) Lao: ຕາຫລອກ (tā lǭk), ພະຍັບແດດ (pha nyap dǣt) Latvian: mirāža f Lithuanian: miražas m Macedonian: привиде́ние n (prividénie), фатаморга́на f (fatamorgána) Malay: fatamorgana, logamaya Maori: tiritiri Mongolian: зэрэглээ (mn) (zereglee) Navajo: hadahooneeyą́, hadahooneeyánígíí Norwegian: luftspeiling m Ottoman Turkish: سراب (serab) Persian: سراب (fa) (sarâb), گوراب (fa) (gurâb), تیژه (tiže), گتیر (gatir), گویر (fa) (gavir) Plautdietsch: Loftspieejel m Polish: miraż (pl) m, fatamorgana (pl) f Portuguese: miragem (pt) f Romanian: miraj (ro) n Russian: мира́ж (ru) m (miráž), ма́рево (ru) n (márevo), фа́та морга́на f (fáta morgána) (rare) Sanskrit: मरीचिका (sa) f (marīcikā) Serbo-Croatian: Cyrillic: фатаморгана f, мираж m Roman: fatamorgana (sh) f, miraž (sh) m Slovak: fatamorgána f, prelud m Slovene: fatamorgana f, privid (sl) m Spanish: espejismo (es) m Swahili: sarabi, mangati Swedish: hägring (sv) c Tagalog: malikmata (tl) Tajik: сароб (sarob) Tamil: கானல் நீர் (ta) (kāṉal nīr), கானனீர் (ta) (kāṉaṉīr), கானல் (ta) (kāṉal) Telugu: ఎండమావి (te) (eṇḍamāvi) Thai: มิราจ (mírâat), ภาพลวงตา (th) (pâappáluang dtaa) Turkish: serap (tr), ılgım (tr) Turkmen: sagym, salgym Ukrainian: міра́ж m (miráž), ма́рево n (márevo) Urdu: سراب (sarāb) Uzbek: sarob (uz) Vietnamese: ảo ảnh (vi) Volapük: magälod (vo) Yiddish: אָפּדוכט m (opdukht), אויסווײַזעניש n (oysvayzenish)

illusion — see illusion

Verb

mirage (third-person singular simple present mirages, present participle miraging, simple past and past participle miraged)

1. (transitive) To cause to appear as or like a mirage.
   • 1915, E. Phillips Oppenheim, Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo‎:

     All that had been in his mind seemed suddenly miraged before him—the removal of Hunterleys, his own wife's failing health.

   • 1901, A. E. W. Mason, Ensign Knightley and Other Stories‎:

     The vision of a salon was miraged before her, with herself in the middle deftly manipulating the destinies of a nation.

References

• “mirage, n.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.

Further reading

• mirage on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Margie, gamier, imager, maigre

French

Etymology

From mirer +‎ -age.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mi.ʁaʒ/

• Audio (Paris):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Brétigny-sur-Orge)):

  (file)

Noun

mirage m (plural mirages)

1. mirage

Descendants

• → Bulgarian: мира́ж (miráž)
• → Catalan: miratge
• → English: mirage
• → Esperanto: miraĝo
• → Galician: miraxe
• → Hebrew: מִירָאז׳ (mirázh)
• → Italian: miraggio
• → Polish: miraż
• → Portuguese: miragem
• → Romanian: miraj
• → Russian: мира́ж (miráž)
  • → Armenian: միրաժ (miraž)
  • → Azerbaijani: miraj
  • → Belarusian: міра́ж (miráž)
  • → Estonian: miraaž
  • → Georgian: მირაჟი (miraži)
  • → Latvian: mirāža
  • → Lithuanian: miražas
  • → Ukrainian: міра́ж (miráž)
• → Serbo-Croatian:
  • Cyrillic script: мираж
  • Latin script: miraž
• → Spanish: miraje
• → Thai: มิราจ (mírâat)

Further reading

• “mirage”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.

Anagrams

• émigra
• gémira
• germai
• maigre