inflect

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   grammar: to change a word's form to express features such as tense, number, case, or gender

   English verbs inflect for the third-person singular in the present tense.

2. 2
   verb

   to vary the pitch, tone, or modulation of the voice

   She can inflect the final phrase to make it sound doubtful rather than certain.

From Latin inflectere ("to bend inward or alter"), built from in- + flectere ("to bend"). English extended physical bending to changes in vocal pitch and to the grammatical bending or alteration of a word into different forms.

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