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The visibility of objects, excluding light-emitting ones, is primarily caused by diffuse reflection of light: it is diffusely-scattered light that forms the image of the object in the observer's eye.
==Etymology==
1520s (transitive), "to pour out and spread, cause to flow and spread;" 1650s (intransitive), "spread abroad, scatter in all directions;" from Latin diffusus, past participle of diffundere "to pour out or away," from dis- "apart, in every direction" (see dis-) + fundere "to pour" (from nasalized form of PIE root *gheu- "to pour").
late 14c., refleccioun, reflexioun, reflectioun, of surfaces or bodies, "the action of throwing back light or heat," from Old French reflexion, refleccion, and directly from Late Latin reflexionem (nominative reflexio) "a reflection," literally "a bending back," noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin reflectere "to bend back, bend backwards, turn away," from re- "back" (see re-) + flectere "to bend" (see flexible).
==Mechanism==
[[Image:Diffuse reflection.gif|thumb|right|Figure 1 – General mechanism of diffuse reflection by a solid surface ([[refraction]] phenomena not represented)|250px]]
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