inflection — English Dictionary

Noun

1. The linguistic phenomenon of morphological variation, whereby words take a number of distinct forms in order to express different grammatical features.

   Usage

   • Uncountable

   Examples

   In English, word order often does the work that inflection did in Latin.

2. The linguistic phenomenon of morphological variation, whereby words take a number of distinct forms in order to express different grammatical features. Any specific type of morphological variation, which applies to a given word class.

   Usage

   • Countable

   Examples

   The second-person imperative is a verbal inflection found in many Indo-European languages.

3. The linguistic phenomenon of morphological variation, whereby words take a number of distinct forms in order to express different grammatical features. An affix representing a given variation.

   Usage

   • Countable

   Examples

   English's regular inflection for number in plural nouns is the suffix -s.

4. The linguistic phenomenon of morphological variation, whereby words take a number of distinct forms in order to express different grammatical features. Any specific morphological form of a particular word, such as the principal parts for any given stem; any of the declined or conjugated forms that constitute its declension or conjugation.

   Usage

   • Countable

   Examples

   Recite every inflection for each of these words.

5. A change in pitch or tone of voice.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

6. A change in curvature from concave to convex or from convex to concave.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

7. A turning away from a straight course.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

   Examples

   inflection from the rules

8. Diffraction.

   Usage

   • Countable
   • Uncountable

Noun

1. a change in the form of a word (usually by adding a suffix) to indicate a change in its grammatical function

   Synonyms

   inflexion

   Broader terms

   grammatical relation

2. the patterns of stress and intonation in a language

   Synonyms

   prosody

   Broader terms

   manner of speakingspeechdelivery

3. deviation from a straight or normal course

   Synonyms

   flectionflexion

   Broader terms

   deviationdivergencedeparturedifference

4. a manner of speaking in which the loudness or pitch or tone of the voice is modified

   Synonyms

   modulation

   Broader terms

   manner of speakingspeechdelivery