reflexively

adjective

1. Grammar.
   1. (of a verb) taking a subject and object with identical referents, as shave in I shave myself.
   2. (of a pronoun) used as an object to refer to the subject of a verb, as myself in I shave myself.
2. reflex; responsive.
3. able to reflect; reflective.
4. Mathematics.
   1. noting a relation in which each element is in relation to itself, as the relation “less than or equal to.”Compare antireflexive.
   2. (of a vector space) having the property that the dual space of the dual space of the given vector space equals the given vector space.

noun

5. Grammar. a reflexive verb or pronoun.

adjective

1. denoting a class of pronouns that refer back to the subject of a sentence or clause. Thus, in the sentence that man thinks a great deal of himself, the pronoun himself is reflexive
2. denoting a verb used transitively with the reflexive pronoun as its direct object, as the French se lever “to get up” (literally “to raise oneself”) or English to dress oneself
3. physiol of or relating to a reflex
4. logic maths (of a relation) holding between any member of its domain and itself“… is a member of the same family as …” is reflexive Compare irreflexive, nonreflexive

noun

5. a reflexive pronoun or verb

adj.

1580s, “reflective, capable of bending or turning back,” from Medieval Latin reflexivus, from Late Latin reflexus (see reflect). Meaning “of the nature of a reflex” is from 1839 (implied in reflexively). Grammatical sense from 1837. Related: Reflexiveness; reflexivity.

1. Of or relating to a mathematical or logical relation such that, for any given element, that element has the given relation to itself. Equality in mathematics is a reflexive relation, since a = a for all a, whereas the relation of being ‘less than’ is not, since it is not true that a a for any a.