Inflect

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Inflect \In*flect"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Inflected}; p. pr. &
     vb. n. {Inflecting}.] [L. inflectere, inflexum; pref. in- in
     + flectere to bend. See {Flexible}, and cf. {Inflex}.]
     1. 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 ?                           --Sir I.
                                                    Newton.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. (Gram.) 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]
  
     3. To modulate, as the voice.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  inflect
       v 1: change the form of a word in accordance as required by the
            grammatical rules of the language
       2: of one's speech, varying the pitch [syn: {tone}, {modulate}]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  41 Moby Thesaurus words for "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