In*flect" (?), v. t. [imp. & p. p. Inflected; p. pr. & vb. n. Inflecting.] [L. inflectere, inflexum; pref. in.- in + flectere to bend. See Flexibl, and cf. Inflex.]
1.
To turn from a direct line or course; to bend; to incline, to deflect; to curve; to bow.
Are they [the rays of the sun] not reflected, refracted, and inflected by one and the same principle ?
Sir I. Newton.
2. Gram.
To vary, as a noun or a verb in its terminations; to decline, as a noun or adjective, or to conjugate, as a verb.
3.
To modulate, as the voice.
© Webster 1913.