dictionary definitions for "reflexive"


From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Reflexive \Re*flex"ive\ (-?v), a.
     1. [Cf. F. r['e]flexif.] Bending or turned backward;
        reflective; having respect to something past.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Assurance reflexive can not be a divine faith.
                                                    --Hammond.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. Implying censure. [Obs.] "What man does not resent an ugly
        reflexive word?" --South.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. (Gram.) Having for its direct object a pronoun which
        refers to the agent or subject as its antecedent; -- said
        of certain verbs; as, the witness perjured himself; I
        bethought myself. Applied also to pronouns of this class;
        reciprocal; reflective.
        [1913 Webster] -- Re*flex"ive*ly, adv. --
        Re*flex"ive*ness, n.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006) [wn]:

  reflexive
      adj 1: without volition or conscious control; "the automatic
             shrinking of the pupils of the eye in strong light"; "a
             reflex knee jerk"; "sneezing is reflexive" [syn:
             automatic, {reflex(a)}, reflexive]
      2: referring back to itself [syn: reflexive, self-referent]
      n 1: a personal pronoun compounded with -self to show the
           agent's action affects the agent [syn: reflexive pronoun,
           reflexive]

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (8 July 2008) [foldoc]:

  reflexive
  
     <theory> A relation R is reflexive if, for all x, x R x.
  
     Equivalence relations, pre-orders, partial orders and
     total orders are all reflexive.
  
     (1999-01-28)
  


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