inflect

• POS: Verb (usu participle), Verb (transitive)
• HYPHEN: in=flect

CIDE DICTIONARY

inflect, v. t. [L. inflectere, inflexum; pref. in- in + flectere to bend. See Flexible, and cf. Inflex.].

•  To turn from a direct line or course; to bend; to incline, to deflect; to curve; to bow.  [1913 Webster]

  "Are they [the rays of the sun] not reflected, refracted, and inflected by one and the same principle ?"  [1913 Webster]
•  To vary, as a noun or a verb in its terminations; to decline, as a noun or adjective, or to conjugate, as a verb.  [1913 Webster]
•  To modulate, as the voice.  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

inflect, v.
1 tr. change the pitch of (the voice, a musical note, etc.).
2 Gram. a tr. change the form of (a word) to express tense, gender, number, mood, etc. b intr. (of a word, language, etc.) undergo such change.
3 tr. bend inwards; curve.

Derivative

inflective adj.

Etymology

ME f. L inflectere inflex- (as IN-(2), flectere bend)

THESAURUS

inflect

analyze, arch, bend, bend back, bow, bracket, conjugate, crook, curl, curve, decline, decurve, deflect, dome, embow, flex, hook, hump, hunch, hyphenate, incurvate, incurve, intonate, loop, mark, modulate, parenthesize, parse, point, punctuate, recurve, reflect, reflex, retroflex, round, sag, swag, sweep, turn, vault, wind

ROGET THESAURUS

inflect

Curvature

VB be curved curve, sweep, sway, swag, sag, deviate, curl, turn, reenter, render curved, flex, bend, curve, incurvate, inflect, deflect, scatter, refract (light), crook, turn, round, arch, arcuate, arch over, concamerate, bow, curl, recurve, frizzle, rotundity, convexity.