Inflection

3 definitions found

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

  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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     2. A bend; a fold; a curve; a turn; a twist.


        [1913 Webster]
  
     3. A slide, modulation, or accent of the voice; as, the
        rising and the falling inflection.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     4. (Gram.) The variation or change which words undergo to
        mark case, gender, number, comparison, tense, person,
        mood, voice, etc.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
            [1913 Webster]
  
     6. (Opt.) Same as {Diffraction}.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     {Point of inflection} (Geom.), the point on opposite sides of
        which a curve bends in contrary ways.
        [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

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

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

  96 Moby Thesaurus words for "inflection":
     IC analysis, L, S-curve, accent, accidence, affix, affixation,
     allomorph, angle, apex, articulation, bend, bending, bifurcation,
     bight, bound morpheme, bow, bowing, cant, chevron, coin,
     conflexure, conjugation, corner, crank, crook, crotchet, cutting,
     declension, deflection, derivation, difference of form, dogleg,
     elbow, ell, enclitic, enunciation, flection, flex, flexure, fork,
     formative, free form, furcation, geanticline, geosyncline,
     hairpin turn, hook, immediate constituent analysis, infix,
     infixation, intonation, intonation pattern, knee, meander,
     modulation, morph, morpheme, morphemic analysis, morphemics,
     morphology, morphophonemics, nook, oxbow, paradigm, pitch,
     pitch accent, point, prefix, prefixation, proclitic, pronunciation,
     quoin, radical, reflection, root, speech tune, stem, suffix,
     suffixation, suprasegmental, sweep, swerve, theme, timbre,
     tonality, tone, tone of voice, turn, turning, veer, vertex,
     word-formation, zag, zig, zigzag