show-glassn.
/ˈʃəʊɡlɑːs/, /ˈʃəʊɡlas/, U.S. /ˈʃoʊˌɡlæs/ Now historical.† 2. A mirror, esp. a magic mirror; (figurative) something which accurately represents or provides insight into something else. Obsolete.
1. A glass case or container for displaying or protecting items or goods, esp. in a shop. Cf. showcase n. 1.
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society > communication > manifestation > showing to the sight > exposure to public view > [noun] > place for > room or showcase
showroom1699
show-glass1708
showcase1803
panopticon1836
vitrine1880
1708 Proc. Old Bailey 14 Apr. 2/2 The Prisoner..broke the Show Glass, took out the Goods and went off with them.
1795 Trial T. Hardy for High Treason II. 97 Those knives..lay in my show glass, and in the window for public sale.
1825 W. Hone Every-day Bk. (1826) I. 51 Their upright cylinder-shaped show-glasses, containing peppermint-drops,..sugar-sticks, hard-bake [etc.].
1862 Internat. Exhib.: Illustr. Catal. Industr. Dept. II. x. §2266 They are especially adapted for show-glasses..where safety and protection from dust are essential.
1904 W. H. Simmonds Pract. Grocer (1906) I. 79 Counter rails and counter show-cases, show-glasses of attractive shapes can be readily bought.
1995 Jrnl. Design Hist. 8 163/2 Show glasses varied in size, some were placed in the window, and some, perhaps more like glass-topped cabinets, were placed on the street to attract customers to the shop.
2016 L. P. Nelson Architecture & Empire in Jamaica vi. 176/2 Some show glasses were also finely finished to especially draw the eye.
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the world > physical sensation > sight and vision > optical instruments > mirror > [noun]
sunshineeOE
showerOE
glass13..
mirrorc1330
spectaclec1430
mirror glass1440
beryl-glass1540
reflecting glass?a1560
reflective1720
show-glass1810
shiner1819
1810 D. Pennant T. Pennant's Tours in Wales II. ii. 267 Mr. Walpole is in possession of the famous shew-glass of doctor Dee: it is no more than a piece of canal coal, finely polished like a mirror, and let into the broad end of a racket-shaped frame.
1813 M. E. Capp Afr. Princess & Other Poems 140 Come weal or come woe, yet, my doubts to remove, Produce in thy Show-Glass the form of my love?
1855 J. Ogilvie Suppl. Imperial Dict. Show-glass,..a mirror.
1870 New Englander (New Haven, Connecticut) Apr. 312 Through these tales, we have a direct insight into..the customs and the philosophy of our ancestors... We have only to look through this magic show glass, and we are transported back to the very scenes which were then transacted.
1890 Cent. Dict. Show-glass, a glass in which something is seen; a mirror; especially, a magic mirror, or a glass in which things not present are made to appear.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2017; most recently modified version published online June 2022).
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n.1708