Spieghel

Spieghel is a historical Dutch spelling of the word spiegel, meaning mirror. The form appears in medieval and early modern Dutch texts as both a literal noun and a component in book titles. In the period from roughly the 14th to the 17th century, Dutch orthography varied widely, and spellings such as spieghen, spiegel, and spieghel coexisted before standardization favored spiegel in modern Dutch.

Meaning and usage

The primary sense of spieghel is the reflective surface used to see one’s image. Beyond the physical object, spieghel often carried metaphorical and didactic overtones, signaling a tool for examination, moral instruction, or exemplary representation. Consequently, the word shows up in religious, moral, and scholarly writings of the Low Countries, where it served to present a ‘mirror’ of virtue, vice, knowledge, or human experience.

Historical context

Spieghel reflects broader patterns in early modern Dutch spelling, printing, and literature. Its presence in titles and discourse illustrates how authors framed works as mirrors for readers, inviting self-reflection or clearer understanding of the world. The archaic form persists primarily in bibliographic records and discussions of early Dutch language and literature.

Modern relevance

Today, spieghel is mainly of interest to philologists, historians of Dutch language, and librarians researching early modern print culture. It provides insight into historical orthography, metaphorical usage, and the transmission of religious and didactic literature in the Low Countries. See also spiegel (mirror) and orthographic variation in early Dutch.