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Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This

in·flec·tion

Audio Help [in-flek-shuh

n] Pronunciation Key

–noun

1.	modulation of the voice; change in pitch or tone of voice.

Also, flection. Grammar.

a.	the process or device of adding affixes to or changing the shape of a base to give it a different syntactic function without changing its form class.

b.	the paradigm of a word.

c.	a single pattern of formation of a paradigm: noun inflection; verb inflection.

d.	the change in the shape of a word, generally by affixation, by means of which a change of meaning or relationship to some other word or group of words is indicated.

e.	the affix added to produce this change, as the -s in dogs or the -ed in played.

f.	the systematic description of such processes in a given language, as in serves from serve, sings from sing, and harder from hard (contrasted with derivation).

3.	a bend or angle.

4.	Mathematics. a change of curvature from convex to concave or vice versa.

Also, especially British, inflexion.

[Origin: 1525–35; var. sp. of inflexion < L inflexiōn- (s. of inflexiō) a bending. See inflect, -ion

]

—Related forms

in·flec·tion·less, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
inflection

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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

in·flec·tion Audio Help (ĭn-flěk'shən) Pronunciation Key
n.

The act of inflecting or the state of being inflected.
Alteration in pitch or tone of the voice.
Grammar
1. An alteration of the form of a word by the addition of an affix, as in English dogs from dog, or by changing the form of a base, as in English spoke from speak, that indicates grammatical features such as number, person, mood, or tense.
2. An affix indicating such a grammatical feature, as the -s in the English third person singular verb form speaks.
3. The paradigm of a word.
4. A pattern of forming paradigms, such as noun inflection or verb inflection.
A turning or bending away from a course or position of alignment.

in·flec'tion·al adj., in·flec'tion·al·ly adv.

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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This

inflection
noun
1.	a change in the form of a word (usually by adding a suffix) to indicate a change in its grammatical function
2.	the patterns of stress and intonation in a language [syn: prosody]
3.	deviation from a straight or normal course
4.	a manner of speaking in which the loudness or pitch or tone of the voice is modified [syn: modulation]

American Heritage New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition - Cite This Source - Share This
inflection

A change in the form of a word to reflect different grammatical functions of the word in a sentence. English has lost most of its inflections. Those that remain are chiefly possessive ('s), as in “the boy's hat”; plural (-s), as in “the three girls”; and past tense (-d or -ed), as in cared. Other inflections are found in pronouns — as in he, him, his — and in irregular words such as think/thought, child/children, and mouse/mice.

[Chapter:] Conventions of Written English

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Inflection

In*flec"tion\, n. [L. inflexio : cf. F. inflexion. See Inflect.] [Written also inflecxion.]

1. The act of inflecting, or the state of being inflected.

2. A bend; a fold; a curve; a turn; a twist.

3. A slide, modulation, or accent of the voice; as, the rising and the falling inflection.

4. (Gram.) The variation or change which words undergo to mark case, gender, number, comparison, tense, person, mood, voice, etc.

5. (Mus.) (a) Any change or modification in the pitch or tone of the voice. (b) A departure from the monotone, or reciting note, in chanting.

6. (Opt.) Same as Diffraction.

Point of inflection (Geom.), the point on opposite sides of which a curve bends in contrary ways.

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