inflection

American  

[in-flek-shuhn] / ɪnˈflɛk ʃən /

especially British, inflexion

noun

1. modulation of the voice; change in pitch or tone of voice.

2. Grammar. Also

   1. 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.

   2. the paradigm of a word.

   3. a single pattern of formation of a paradigm.

      noun inflection; verb inflection.

   4. 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.

   5. the affix added to produce this change, as the -s in dogs or the -ed in played.

   6. 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. Mathematics. a change of curvature from convex to concave or vice versa.

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inflection British  

/ ɪnˈflɛkʃən /

noun

1. modulation of the voice

2. (grammar) a change in the form of a word, usually modification or affixation, signalling change in such grammatical functions as tense, voice, mood, person, gender, number, or case

3. an angle or bend

4. the act of inflecting or the state of being inflected

5. maths a change in curvature from concave to convex or vice versa See also point of inflection

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inflection Cultural  

1. A change in the form of a word to reflect different grammatical functions of the word in a sentence. English has lost most of its inflections. Those that remain are chiefly possessive ('s), as in “the boy's hat”; plural (-s), as in “the three girls”; and past tense (-d or -ed), as in cared. Other inflections are found in pronouns — as in he, him, his — and in irregular words such as think/thought, child/children, and mouse/mice.

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Other Word Forms

• inflectional
  adjective
• inflectionally
  adverb
• inflectionless
  adjective
• preinflection
  noun

Etymology

Origin of inflection

1525–35; variant spelling of inflexion < Latin inflexiōn- (stem of inflexiō ) a bending. See inflect, -ion

Explanation

Inflection refers to the ups and downs of a language. Even if you can’t understand Italian yet, the inflection in your professor’s voice should tip you off to whether she's asking a question, giving a command, or making a joke. What began in the 1500s as a noun of action spelled inflexion has since evolved into inflection, a word with grammatical connotation. Inflection most often refers to the pitch and tone patterns in a person’s speech: where the voice rises and falls. But inflection also describes a departure from a normal or straight course. When you change, or bend, the course of a soccer ball by bouncing it off another person, that’s an example of inflection.

Example Sentences

Recent examples include Microsoft's deal with AI startup Inflection AI in 2024, which saw co-founder Mustafa Suleyman and much of the team join Microsoft while the company remained independent.

From Barron's • Dec. 24, 2025

And Microsoft struck such a deal with startup Inflection AI.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 24, 2025

If the CMA finds that there is enough evidence to suggest there has been a "merger" between Microsoft and Inflection that could lessen competition, it will progress to a more in-depth investigation.

From BBC • Jul. 16, 2024

Microsoft, with its big investments in AI startups like OpenAI, Inflection and Mistral AI, has emerged as Alphabet’s biggest rival in the most frenzied tech cycle since the dot-com boom.

From Seattle Times • May 13, 2024

—Benjamin Jowett Illustrate from this extract the general principle that incompleteness is expressed by means of the Rising, and completeness by means of the Falling Inflection.

From The Ontario High School Reader by Marty, A.E.

Related Words

• articulation
• pronunciation
• timbre
• tone of voice