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Webster 1828 Edition


Retroflex

RET'ROFLEX

,
Adj.
[L. retro, back, and flexus, bent.]
In botany, bent this way and that, or in different directions, usually in a distorted manner; as a retroflex branch.

Definition 2024


retroflex

retroflex

English

Adjective

retroflex (comparative more retroflex, superlative most retroflex)

  1. Bent or curved backwards.
  2. (phonetics) Of pronunciation in which the tip of the tongue is raised and bent backwards, so that the underside of the tongue approaches or touches the palate.
  3. (phonetics) Of pronunciation in which the tip of the tongue approaches or touches the back of the alveolar ridge.
  4. (phonetics, general sense) Of any of the aforementioned pronunciations.

Synonyms

  • (bent backwards): reflexed
  • (of pronunciation with the underside of the tongue): subapical palatal
  • (of pronunciation with the tip of the tongue): apical postalveolar

Related terms

Translations

Noun

retroflex (plural retroflexes)

  1. (phonetics) A consonant pronounced with the underside of the tongue approaching or touching the palate.
  2. (phonetics) A consonant pronounced with the tip of the tongue approaching or touching the back of the alveolar ridge.
  3. (phonetics, general sense) Any of the aforementioned consonants.

Translations

See also