In order to know the meaning of the term mirage that concerns us now, it is necessary, first of all, to discover its etymological origin. In this case, we can emphasize that it is a word that derives from Latin. Exactly it is the result of the sum of two lexical components of said language:
-The noun “speculum”, which can be translated as “instrument for seeing”.
-The suffix “-ism”, which is used to indicate “activity”.
The first definition of mirage mentioned in the dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy ( RAE ) refers to an optical illusion that is generated when light passes through air strata that have different densities, which causes its total reflection and causes the elements that are far away look inverted and closer.
The reflection of light means that, when it hits a surface that separates two changing media, it is deflected and returns to the medium that originated it. A mirage is a visual illusion derived from this phenomenon.
The most common mirages occur on roads or routes , causing distant objects to be reflected on the pavement as if the surface were liquid . Due to this mirage, there appears to be water on the road, although in reality the asphalt is dry.
Mirages also occur in deserts . The temperature of the air, when in contact with the hot sand, increases, causing changes in density. Thus the warmer air, heated by radiation reflected from the ground, remains below the colder air. Due to the different refractive indices, light is successively reflected by the various layers of air. The observer, in this way, sees a mirage on the ground (a blurry image of the real object), another inverted image that seems to be reflected in a liquid and also the real element that is in the distance.
In colloquial language, a fantasy , a chimera or a dream is called a mirage. For example: “I thought the trip was going to be good for us, but it was a mirage,” “Journalistic objectivity is a mirage,” “Finally the unity of the opposition leaders turned out to be nothing more than a mirage: the friction and disagreements have returned.” confrontations.”
In the same way, we cannot ignore the fact that mirage is a word that has been used to shape titles of cultural works. A good example of this is the film “Espejismo”, which was released in 1972 and was directed by the Peruvian filmmaker Armando Robles Godoy.
It has the distinction of being the only film from its country to have been nominated for a Golden Globe and it stars actors of the caliber of Helena Rojo, Orlando Sacha and Miguel Ángel Flores.
It tells the story of a young man who inherits a property next to the desert and as he comes into contact with it he will discover the history of it and those who owned it before him.
Likewise, there is the novel “Mirage”, written by Hugh Howey and which falls within the scope of science fiction. And it says that men and women, the few who have survived, are living in an underground silo.