Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Circumflex?

\Cir"cum*flex\, n. [L. circumflexus a bending round, fr. circumflectere, circumflexum, to bend or turn about; circum + flectere to bend. See {Flexible}.] 1. A wave of the voice embracing both a rise and fall or a fall and a rise on the same a syllable. --Walker. 2. A character, or accent, denoting in Greek a rise and of the voice on the same long syllable, marked thus [~ or ?]; and in Latin and some other languages, denoting a long and contracted syllable, marked [? or ^]. See {Accent}, n., 2.
\Cir"cum*flex\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Circumflexed}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Circumflexing}.] To mark or pronounce with a circumflex. --Walker.
\Cir"cum*flex\, a. [Cf. L. circumflexus, p. p.] 1. Moving or turning round; circuitous. [R.] --Swift. 2. (Anat.) Curved circularly; -- applied to several arteries of the hip and thigh, to arteries, veins, and a nerve of the shoulder, and to other parts.