Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Bent, curved, or turned backward.
  • adjective Pronounced with the tip of the tongue turned back against the roof of the mouth.
  • noun A sound pronounced with the tongue in retroflex position, as the sound (r) in some varieties of English.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Same as reflexed.
  • Same as retroflect.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Reflexed; bent or turned abruptly backward.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective Bent or curved backwards.
  • adjective phonetics : Of pronunciation in which the tip of the tongue is raised and bent backwards, so that the underside of the tongue is behind the alveolar ridge or touches the palate.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective bent or curved backward
  • adjective pronounced with the tip of the tongue turned back toward the hard palate
  • verb articulate (a consonant) with the tongue curled back against the palate
  • verb bend or turn backward

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Latin *retrōflexus, past participle of retrōflectere, to bend back : retrō, retro- + flectere, to bend.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Latin rētrōflexus, the perfect participle of rētrōflectō ("bend, turn"), from flectō ("bend, turn").

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