inflexion

See also: inflexión

English

Etymology

From Middle French inflexion, itself from Latin īnflexiō.

Noun

inflexion (countable and uncountable, plural inflexions)

1. (chiefly UK) Dated spelling of inflection.
   • c. 1803–1805, Jane Austen, “The Watsons”, in J[ames] E[dward] Austen[-]Leigh, A Memoir of Jane Austen: […] to which is Added Lady Susan and Fragments of Two Other Unfinished Tales by Miss Austen, 2nd edition, London: Richard Bentley and Son, […], published 1871, →OCLC, page 338:

     […] I do not like the studied air and artificial inflexions of voice which your very popular and most admired preachers generally have.

   • [2005 April 11, Philip Howard, “Modern Manners”, in The Times‎^[1], London: News UK, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 17 April 2026:

     “Connexion” is the etymological (ie, “correct”) spelling. That is to say, our word is derived from an actual Latin noun, cf. deflexion, inflexion, and reflexion. […] And it might make life easier to abolish the letter “x”. But why should we cut off the fascinating roots of our words? I should carry on preferring “connexion”.]

Derived terms

• inflexionless

French

Etymology

From Latin īnflexiōnem.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɛ̃.flɛk.sjɔ̃/

• Audio (France (Toulouse)):

  (file)

• Audio (France (Vosges)):

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• Audio (France (Lyon)):

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Noun

inflexion f (plural inflexions)

1. change, especially a slight drop
2. bow (of the body or head)
3. (mathematics) inflection
4. (linguistics) vowel mutation

Derived terms

• point d'inflexion

References

• “inflexion”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012