cambuscan's mirror
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
Sent to Cambuscan by the King of Araby and Ind; it warned of the approach of ill fortune, and told if love was returned. (Chaucer: Canterbury Tales; The Squire's Tale.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “cambuscan's mirror” mean?
Sent to Cambuscan by the King of Araby and Ind; it warned of the approach of ill fortune, and told if love was returned. (Chaucer: Canterbury Tales; The Squire's Tale.
Is “cambuscan's mirror” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.