circumflex

[ sur-kuhm-fleks ]

adjective
  1. Phonetics, Orthography. consisting of, indicated by, or bearing the diacritic ^, ˘, or ~, placed over a vowel symbol in some languages to show that the vowel or the syllable containing it is pronounced in a certain way, as, in French, that the vowel so marked is of a certain quality and long, in Albanian, that the vowel is nasalized and stressed, or, in Classical Greek, that the syllable bears the word accent and is pronounced, according to the ancient grammarians, with a rise and fall in pitch.

  2. Phonetics, Orthography. pronounced with or characterized by the quality, quantity, stress, or pitch indicated by such a mark.

  1. bending or winding around.

noun
  1. Phonetics, Orthography. a circumflex mark or accent.

verb (used with object)
  1. to bend around.

Origin of circumflex

1
1555–65; <Latin circumflexus, equivalent to circum-circum- + flexus, past participle of flectere to bend; see flex1

Words Nearby circumflex

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British Dictionary definitions for circumflex

circumflex

/ (ˈsɜːkəmˌflɛks) /


noun
  1. a mark (^) placed over a vowel to show that it is pronounced with rising and falling pitch, as in ancient Greek, as a long vowel rather than a short one, as in French, or with some other different quality

adjective
  1. (of certain nerves, arteries, or veins) bending or curving around

Origin of circumflex

1
C16: from Latin circumflexus, from circumflectere to bend around, from circum- + flectere to bend

Derived forms of circumflex

  • circumflexion, noun

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