flectere

Flectere is a Latin verb meaning to bend, turn, or curve. In classical Latin it appears in both literal senses—such as bending a limb or a line—and metaphorical ones, like turning or changing direction. In grammar, flectere is the present active infinitive form. Its principal parts are flecto (first person singular present indicative), flectere (present infinitive), flexi (perfect active), and flexum (supine). The verb belongs to the third conjugation and typically shows a stem alternation between flect- and flex- in its perfect and supine forms.

The root flect- appears in many English derivatives through Latin or French descendants, shaping terms that convey bending or turning. Common examples include deflect, reflect, inflect, and inflection. The related forms reflect not only the physical sense of bending (as in deflection or reflection of light) but also the linguistic sense of changing the form of a word (as in inflection). In addition, related nouns and adjectives such as reflection, deflection, flexible, and reflex trace their ancestry to the same Latin root, though modern spellings often reflect subsequent sound changes and morphology.

In contemporary usage, flectere is primarily of interest to students of Latin, philologists, and linguists. It is not ordinarily used as a stand-alone term in everyday English; rather, its legacy lives on in the numerous English derivatives that express bending, turning, or altering form. Related concepts include flection (the act of bending or inflecting), reflection, deflection, and flexure.