I. mə̇ˈrä]zh, -rȧl sometimes ]j noun
( -s )
Etymology: French, from mirer to look at, aim at ( se mirer to look at oneself, be reflected), from Latin mirari to wonder at — more at smile
1.
a. : an optical phenomenon that is often observed on still days over deserts or hot pavements, that has the mirrorlike appearance of a quiet lake or pool in which distant objects are seen inverted by reflection though usually distorted, and that is due to a layer of air which has been heated and therefore rarefied by contact with the ground and which has a density distribution such as to cause rays falling obliquely upon it to curve back upward — see fata morgana , looming
b. : an atmospheric phenomenon in which the air appears to move in ascending waves like those above heated metal
2. : something illusory like a mirage : something visionary and unattainable
if one is to write one must have at least the mirage of an audience — F.M.Ford
explorers, attracted by the mirage of a Northwest passage, pushed through the wilderness — American Guide Series: Minnesota
II. transitive verb
( -ed/-ing/-s )
: to present as a mirage
on the horizon level, we could see miraged several small islands — Australian Museum Magazine