circumflex Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun a diacritical mark (^) placed above a vowel in some languages to indicate a special phonetic quality

WordNet

Cir"cum*flex noun
Etymology
L. circumflexus a bending round, fr. circumflectere, circumflexum, to bend or turn about; circum + flectere to bend. See Flexible.
Definitions
  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 transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Circumflexed ; present participle & verbal noun Circumflexing
Definitions
  1. To mark or pronounce with a circumflex. Walker.
Cir"cum*flex adjective
Etymology
Cf. L. circumflexus, p. p.
Definitions
  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.

Webster 1913