mirage

Etymology

Borrowed from French mirage.

noun

1. An optical phenomenon in which light is refracted through a layer of hot air close to the ground, often giving the illusion of a body of water.
2. (figurative) An illusion.

verb

1. (transitive) To cause to appear as or like a mirage.
   All that had been in his mind seemed suddenly miraged before him—the removal of Hunterleys, his own wife's failing health. 1915, E. Phillips Oppenheim, Mr. Grex of Monte Carlo
   The vision of a salon was miraged before her, with herself in the middle deftly manipulating the destinies of a nation. 1901, A. E. W. Mason, Ensign Knightley and Other Stories