inflection.

1. A change in a word’s form that expresses grammatical information such as tense, number or case.

2. A change in the pitch or tone of a voice.

3. A change in the concavity of a curve.

Use it for

Words that belong together

• verb inflection
• nominal inflection

On the page

Verb inflection marked the past without adding a new dictionary headword.

Nominal inflection expressed the grammatical relation required by the sentence.

Usage notes

Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: Singular inflection; plural inflections. Also uncountable. Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: language analysis, sense distinction, word formation analysis, precise reference. Disciplines: academic writing, linguistics, dictionary and usage analysis. Commonness: moderately common.