flecto

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word flecto. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word flecto, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say flecto in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word flecto you have here. The definition of the word flecto will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition offlecto, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

Latin

Etymology

From Proto-Italic *flektō, of uncertain ultimate origin, lacking any solid Indo-European cognates. Possible Proto-Indo-European predecessors include *bʰleK-, *dʰleK- (which points to an earlier form *θlektō), and *gʷʰleK- (which points to an earlier form *xʷlektō).

Matasović has connected flectō with Proto-Slavic *gleznъ (ankle), reconstructing Proto-Indo-European *gʷʰleǵʰ- to account for both.[1]

Pronunciation

Verb

flectō (present infinitive flectere, perfect active flexī, supine flexum); third conjugation

  1. to bend, curve or bow
  2. to deviate, distract
    Synonyms: arceō, prōpulsō, dīvertō, dēclīnō, āvertō, āspernor, dēmoveō, dēflectō, trānsvertō
  3. to turn or curl
    • 29 BCE – 19 BCE, Virgil, Aeneid 1.155–156:
      genitor caelōque invectus apertō
      flectit equōs currūque volāns dat lōra secundō.
      Father , riding under a clear sky, turns team and gives rein to swift-following chariot flies.
  4. (figuratively) to persuade, prevail upon, or soften
    Synonyms: persuādeō, convincō, trahō, perpellō, admoneō

Conjugation

Derived terms

Descendants

References

  1. ^ Matasović, Ranko (2017) “Latin presents in -t- and the etymologies of necto ‘to weave, bind’ and flecto ‘to bend, curve’”, in Pallas, number 103, Presses Universitaires du Midi, →ISSN, →JSTOR, retrieved June 5, 2023, pages 37–43

Further reading

  • flecto”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • flecto”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
  • flecto in Enrico Olivetti, editor (2003-2024), Dizionario Latino, Olivetti Media Communication
  • flecto in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • Carl Meißner, Henry William Auden (1894) Latin Phrase-Book, London: Macmillan and Co.
    • to make a person change his intention: animum alicuius or simply aliquem flectere
    • to deviate, change the direction: iter flectere, convertere, avertere