照り返す
てりかえす · terikaesu · JLPT N1 · noun
to reflect
🪞☀️ 照 = shine on + 返 = return: light shines and comes back, like a mirror bouncing sunlight.
照る (teru) means to shine; 返す (kaesu) means to give back or return. Together, light that shines onto a surface and is sent back out. Sunlight bouncing off pavement or water is 照り返し.
照 — 昭 (bright) phonetic + 灬 (fire radical)
照 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The bottom 灬 is a variant of 火 'fire', giving the meaning of light or illumination, while 昭 'bright' on top supplies the sound 'zhào' and reinforces the brightness sense. It originally meant to shine light on something, later extending to 'reflect', 'photograph', and 'according to'.