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Dictionary


in•flec•tion



Pronunciation: (in-flek'shun), [key]
—n.
1. modulation of the voice; change in pitch or tone of voice.
2. Also,flection. Gram.
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. Math.a change of curvature from convex to concave or vice versa. Also, esp. Brit.,inflexion.

Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.

inflectinflectional
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