Definify.com
Webster 1913 Edition
Reflex
1.
Directed back; attended by reflection; retroactive; introspective.
The
reflex
act of the soul, or the turning of the intellectual eye inward upon its own actions. Sir M. Hale.
2.
Produced in reaction, in resistance, or in return.
3.
(Physiol.)
Of, pertaining to, or produced by, stimulus or excitation without the necessary intervention of consciousness.
Reflex action
(Physiol.)
, any action performed involuntarily in consequence of an impulse or impression transmitted along afferent nerves to a nerve center, from which it is reflected to an efferent nerve, and so calls into action certain muscles, organs, or cells.
– Reflex nerve
(Physiol.)
, an excito-motory nerve. See
Exito-motory
.1.
Reflection; the light reflected from an illuminated surface to one in shade.
Yon gray is not the morning’s eye,
'Tis but the pale
'Tis but the pale
reflex
of Cynthia's brow. Shakespeare
On the depths of death there swims
The
The
reflex
of a human face. Tennyson.
2.
(Physiol.)
An involuntary movement produced by reflex action.
Patellar reflex
. See
Knee jerk
, under Knee
.1.
To reflect.
[Obs.]
Shak.
2.
To bend back; to turn back.
J. Gregory.
Webster 1828 Edition
Reflex
RE'FLEX
,Adj.
1.
Directed back; as a reflex act of the soul, the turning of the intellectual eye inward upon its own actions.2.
Designating the parts of a painting illuminated by light reflected from another part of the same picture.3.
In botany, bent back; reflected.