circumflex

[ sur-kuhm-fleks ]

adjective

1. Phonetics, Orthography. consisting of, indicated by, or bearing the diacritic ^, ˘, or ~, placed over a vowel symbol in some languages to show that the vowel or the syllable containing it is pronounced in a certain way, as, in French, that the vowel so marked is of a certain quality and long, in Albanian, that the vowel is nasalized and stressed, or, in Classical Greek, that the syllable bears the word accent and is pronounced, according to the ancient grammarians, with a rise and fall in pitch.
2. Phonetics, Orthography. pronounced with or characterized by the quality, quantity, stress, or pitch indicated by such a mark.
3. bending or winding around.

noun

1. Phonetics, Orthography. a circumflex mark or accent.

verb (used with object)

1. to bend around.

circumflex

/ ˈsɜːkəmˌflɛks /

noun

1. a mark (^) placed over a vowel to show that it is pronounced with rising and falling pitch, as in ancient Greek, as a long vowel rather than a short one, as in French, or with some other different quality

adjective

1. (of certain nerves, arteries, or veins) bending or curving around

Derived Forms

• ˌcircumˈflexion, noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of circumflex¹

1555–65; < Latin circumflexus, equivalent to circum- circum- + flexus, past participle of flectere to bend; flex ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of circumflex¹

C16: from Latin circumflexus, from circumflectere to bend around, from circum- + flectere to bend

Example Sentences

He scheduled an exploratory procedure that showed a major blockage in my circumflex artery and that he resolved by inserting the stent.

From Washington Post

My left circumflex artery was 100 percent blocked.

From Fox News

Dr. Gregory Pearl, a vascular surgeon, is to repair the posterior circumflex humeral artery on Thursday in Dallas.

From Seattle Times

The French language has several such diacritic marks, such as the acute, grave and circumflex accents and the double-dot trema on several vowels, as well as the cedilla under the letter c, notably in the word français.

From Reuters

When approached from the back of the house, the lattice ceiling hides behind another brick screen, this one standing vertically on a single circumflex of steel: a 79-foot-long matrix of heavy, graceless materials, cobbled roughly together, that seems to levitate over the lawn as if by sorcery.

From New York Times