What does inflect mean?
To inflect a word is to alter its form so that it performs a particular grammatical role. English inflects verbs for grammatical person and tense, nouns for number and case, and adjectives for comparative and superlative degree: for example, “walk” becomes “walks,” “walked,” and “walking,” while “happy” becomes “happier” and “happiest.” These changes are systematic rather than arbitrary, and they allow a limited vocabulary of words to express many relationships within a sentence. The word is especially common in grammar, linguistics, and language-teaching contexts. It can also mean to bend or curve something, although this older sense is now unusual. Inflection differs from derivation, which creates a new word with a different meaning: “unhappy” is derived from “happy,” whereas “happier” is an inflected form of “happy.” Understanding inflection is therefore essential for describing how words relate to one another within sentences.
verbTo change the form of a word according to its grammatical function, such as when marking tense, number, case, gender, or comparison. More rarely, to bend or curve something.
- In grammar, to change a word’s form to express grammatical relationships, such as number, case, gender, tense, or comparison.
- In more formal or literary use, to bend, curve, or turn something aside.
"The noun “child” inflects to form the plural “children.”"
"The verb “go” inflects to “goes,” “went,” and “going.”"
"The beam inflected slightly under the weight of the roof."
Inflection is the hidden grammar that lets one word change its grammatical shape without changing its core identity.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does inflect come from?
The word comes from Latin inflectere, a compound of in- and flectere, both elements meaning “to bend.” Latin inflectere originally meant “to bend, curve, or turn aside,” and its grammatical sense developed from the comparison of inflection with a word being bent toward a different form. English adopted the word for grammatical modification in the early 17th century. Its relatives include reflect and deflect, which preserve the sense of turning or bending, while flex and circumflex continue the broader Latin root associated with bending.
Related word forms
How inflect is actually used
The grammatical sense is standard in linguistics and language teaching. The bending or turning sense is much less common and tends to appear in formal or literary writing.
Easily confused with inflect
To inflect a word is to change its grammatical form, whereas to infect something is to contaminate it with a disease or harmful influence.