INFLECTION
oxford
views updated May 17 2018INFLECTION, also especially BrE inflexion. A grammatical form of a word. Some languages make more use of inflections than others:
LATIN is highly
INFLECTED for nouns, adjectives, pronouns, and verbs, whereas
FRENCH is highly inflected for verbs but less so for other parts of speech. Generally, verbs inflect for
MOOD,
TENSE,
PERSON,
NUMBER, while nouns and adjectives inflect for NUMBER AND GENDER. Such inflections may involve affixes, sound and spelling changes (including stress shifts),
SUPPLETION, or a mixture of these. In English, there are relatively few inflections. Verbs inflect through suffixation (
look/looks/looking/looked), but some irregular verbs have past forms that depart from the norm (
see/sees/seeing/saw/seen;
swim/swims/swimming/swam/swum;
put/puts/putting/put). The verb
be has eight forms:
am,
are,
be,
been,
being,
is,
was,
were. Nouns inflect for plurality and possession (
worker/workers/worker's/workers') and some adjectives inflect for their comparatives and superlatives (
big/bigger/biggest). Seven pronouns have distinct object forms:
me,
us,
her,
him,
them,
thee,
whom. See
ACCIDENCE,
CASE,
ENDING,
STRONG VERB,
WEAK VERB.
Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language TOM McARTHUR
inflection
oxford
views updated May 29 2018in·flec·tion / inˈflekshən/ (chiefly Brit. also in·flex·ion) •
n. 1. Gram. a change in the form of a word (typically the ending) to express a grammatical function or attribute such as tense, mood, person, number, case, and gender. ∎ the process or practice of inflecting words.2. the modulation of intonation or pitch in the voice: she spoke slowly and without inflection | the variety of his vocal inflections. ∎ the variation of the pitch of a musical note.3. chiefly Math. a change of curvature from convex to concave at a particular point on a curve.DERIVATIVES: in·flec·tion·al / -shənl/ adj.in·flec·tion·al·ly / -shənl-ē/ adv.in·flec·tion·less adj.
The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English
inflect
oxford
views updated May 21 2018in·flect / inˈflekt/ •
v. [tr.] (often be inflected) 1. Gram. change the form of (a word) to express a particular grammatical function or attribute, typically tense, mood, person, number, case, and gender. ∎ [intr.] (of a word or a language containing such words) undergo such change.2. vary the intonation or pitch of (the voice), esp. to express mood or feeling. ∎ influence or color (music or writing) in tone or style. ∎ vary the pitch of (a musical note).3. technical bend or deflect (something), esp. inward.DERIVATIVES: in·flec·tive / -tiv/ adj.
The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English
agglutination
oxford
views updated Jun 11 2018agglutination The clumping together by antibodies of microscopic foreign particles, such as red blood cells or bacteria, so that they form a visible pellet-like precipitate. Agglutination is a specific reaction, i.e. a particular antigen will only clump in the presence of its specific antibody; it therefore provides a means of identifying unknown bacteria and determining
blood group. When blood of incompatible
blood groups (e.g. group A and group B – see
ABO system) is mixed together agglutination of the red cells occurs (
haemagglutination). This is due to the reaction between antibodies in the plasma (
agglutinins) and
agglutinogens (antigens) on the surface of the red cells.
A Dictionary of Biology
inflection
oxford
views updated May 23 2018inflection Variation in the form of a lexical item (word) that distinguishes its grammatical relationship to other words in a sentence without altering its
part of speech. In a common type of inflection, affixes are added to a stem or root form in order to distinguish tense, person, number, gender, voice or case. In English, this is usually achieved by adding different endings to the word stem – singular noun ‘house’ gives plural ‘houses’.
World Encyclopedia
inflect
oxford
views updated May 23 2018inflect bend XV; (gram.) vary the termination of XVII; modulate the tone of XIX. — L.
inflectere, f.
IN-1 +
flectere bend.
inflection,
inflexion bending, curvature XVI; modulation of voice XVI; (gram.) modification of form in declension, etc. XVII. — (O)F. or L. (see
FLEXION).
The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology T. F. HOAD
agglutination
oxford
views updated May 11 2018agglutination The clumping of cells that is caused by the reaction between
antigens on their surfaces and
antibodies in their external environment. See
RHESUS FACTOR.
A Dictionary of Zoology MICHAEL ALLABY
agglutination
oxford
views updated May 21 2018agglutination Clumping of
bacteria or
erythrocytes by antibodies that react with
antigens on the cell surface.
World Encyclopedia
agglutination
oxford
views updated Jun 11 2018agglutination (clumping) (ă-gloo-tin-ay-shŏn) n. the sticking together of such microscopic antigenic particles as red blood cells or bacteria so that they form visible clumps.
—
agglutinative adj.
A Dictionary of Nursing
Agglutination
gale
views updated May 21 2018Agglutination
a combination of simple words to express compound ideas—Wilkes.
Dictionary of Collective Nouns and Group Terms