inflection

Etymology

It is inherited from Middle English inflexioun, also enfleccioun,^[2] borrowed from Latin inflexiō (“a bending, inflection, modification”),^{[3][4][5][6][2]} the noun of action from inflectō (“to bend in, curve”), whose past participle is inflexus.^[3][4][5] The Latin verb is formed from in- (“in”) and flectō (“to bend”).^[3] The Shorter Oxford also allows a source in French inflexion,^[7] which the OED records from the 14th century,^[4] and Merriam-Webster also cites Late Latin inflectio.^[8] The spelling of the word follows the verb inflect, as in connection and deflection.^[4][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bending, or the ability to bend: before 1425, in a Middle English translation of Chauliac's surgery.^[2] Etymonline dates the word to the early 15th century,^[3] while the OED and Merriam-Webster begin with Elyot's Governour (1531).^[4][8]

Semantic evolution

In Middle English it could also mean a weakening or subversion (about 1450).^[2] The general sense, the action of bending, was extended to a mental or moral turning (1597, Hooker) and to a concrete bend or curve (1658, Sir Thomas Browne).^[4] The sense "modulation of the voice" is recorded from about 1600,^[3][4] and the grammatical sense, a change in the form of a word to mark its grammatical relations, from 1668, in Bishop Wilkins's Real Character.^[4][3] Johnson (1755) listed the act of bending, the modulation of the voice, and the variation of a noun or verb.^[9] Newton used it in 1704 for the bending of light at the edge of a body, now called diffraction,^[4] and in geometry it has meant a change of curvature from convex to concave since 1721.^[4]

Timeline

• before 1425 – bending, ability to bend.^[2]
• c. 1450 – a weakening, subversion.^[2]
• 1531 – the action of bending.^[4][8]
• 1597 – figurative, a mental or moral turning.^[4]
• before 1600 – modulation of the voice.^[4][3]
• 1658 – a bend or curvature.^[4]
• 1668 – grammar, change in the form of a word; an inflected form or ending.^[4][3]
• 1704 – optics, the bending of light into the shadow of a body (obsolete by 1865).^[4]
• 1721 – geometry, change of curvature; point of inflection.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A change in the pitch or tone of the voice; modulation: She asked with a rising inflection.^[10][8][4]
2. In grammar, a change in the form of a word, usually by an ending, that marks tense, number, case, person and the like; also a form or ending produced in this way.^[10][4]
3. A bend, curve or angle.^[10][8][4]
4. The act of bending, or the state of being bent.^[10][8]
5. In geometry, a change of curvature from convex to concave, or the point where it occurs.^[4]

Word family

• inflectional
• inflectionally
• inflectionless

Related words

• inflect
• flex
• flexible
• reflection
• deflection
• genuflect

Usage notes

The spelling inflexion is used especially in British English.^[11][10]

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ a b Klein, Ernest. A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the English Language. 2 vols. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 1966–1967.
6. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b c d e f Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
9. ^ Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
10. ^ a b c d e Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
11. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House