noun

1. a turning, bending, or curving
2. a turn, bend, or curve
3. any change in tone or pitch of the voice; modulation to signal a question by a rising inflection
4. a change of a curve or arc from convex to concave or the reverse
5. Gram.
   1. the change of form by which some words indicate certain grammatical relationships, as number, case, gender, or tense
   2. an inflected form
   3. an inflectional element, as those bound forms used in English to form the plural and possessive case of nouns (ships, ship's) and the past tense and third person singular, present indicative, of verbs (he shipped, he ships)

Etymology: L inflexio < inflexus, pp. of inflectere: see inflect