deflecto

Forms

dēflectō (present infinitive dēflectere, perfect active dēflexī, supine dēflexum); third conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is from Latin dē- + flectō (“to bend”).^[2][3][1] De Vaan reconstructs flectō as Proto-Italic *flek-t-, perhaps with a suffix ⟨-t-⟩ on the model of plectō (“to plait”), and finds no clear cognates elsewhere in Indo-European.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The OLD's earliest examples are in Cicero, who uses it of rivers turned into another course and, in his translation of Aratus, of the bent bow of Sagittarius.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

Literally it is to bend something down, as Columella bends an olive branch, or to turn it aside: rivers, eyes, a course.^[2][6] Figuratively it is to divert a person from a purpose, as Cicero turns someone from canvassing for office, to modify the character of things, and to twist words.^[2] Used intransitively it is to turn aside or deviate, and of speech to digress, as when Cicero brings his discourse back to where it turned off.^[2] Quintilian uses it of a voice that changes pitch.^[2] Isidore of Seville distinguishes flectī, to bend back and nearby, from deflectī, to turn further and off the way.^[3]

Timeline

• 81–43 BC – Cicero of diverting rivers, a person and a discourse.^[2][5]
• 1st century AD – Columella of bending down a branch.^[2][6][5]
• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian of a voice changing pitch.^[2][5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To bend something downwards; to bend a bow.^[2][6][1]
2. To turn aside, change the course of, deflect; to turn one's eyes.^[2][6][7][1]
3. To divert the attention of; to divert actions or feelings.^[2]
4. To change the character of, modify; to twist words.^[2]
5. Intransitive: to turn aside, deviate; of speech, to digress.^[2][1]

Word family

• dēflexiō
• dēflexus
• indeflexus

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
4. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
5. ^ a b c d Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
6. ^ a b c d Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Stelten, Leo F. (1995), Dictionary of Ecclesiastical Latin, Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson