nonreflexive
|non-re-flex-ive|
🇺🇸
/ˌnɑn.rɪˈflɛksɪv/
🇬🇧
/ˌnɒn.rɪˈflɛksɪv/
not turned back / not self-directed
Etymology
'nonreflexive' originates from English, formed by the prefix 'non-' plus the adjective 'reflexive', where 'non-' meant 'not' and 'reflexive' ultimately comes from Latin 'reflectere' (via Late Latin/Medieval Latin) meaning 'to bend back'.
'reflexive' derives from Latin 'reflectere' (re- 'back' + flectere 'to bend'), passed into Late Latin/Medieval Latin as 'reflexivus' and then into English as 'reflexive'; the English adjective 'nonreflexive' is a later formation by prefixing 'non-' to 'reflexive'.
Initially related to the physical sense 'bent back' (from Latin), 'reflexive' came to mean 'directed back upon itself' (grammatical and figurative senses); 'nonreflexive' therefore developed as the negation, meaning 'not directed back upon itself' or 'not self-referential'.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
not reflexive; (grammar) describing a verb, pronoun, or construction that does not take or imply a reflexive pronoun and does not indicate the action returns to the subject.
In this dialect many verbs are nonreflexive and never use a reflexive pronoun.
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Adjective 2
not self-referential; (logic, math, computer science) a relation, function, or definition that does not refer back to or include the element itself.
A nonreflexive relation on a set never relates an element to itself.
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Adjective 3
not directed back toward the origin or source; not turning back on itself (general, figurative use).
The poem's voice feels nonreflexive, focusing outward rather than on introspection.
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Last updated: 2025/11/19 04:40