retroflex

ret·ro·flex

(rĕt′rə-flĕks′)

adj. also ret·ro·flexed (-flĕkst′)

1. Bent, curved, or turned backward.

2. Pronounced with the tip of the tongue turned back against the roof of the mouth.

A sound pronounced with the tongue in retroflex position, as the sound (r) in some varieties of English.

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

ret′ro·flex′ion, ret′ro·flec′tion n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

retroflex

(ˈrɛtrəʊˌflɛks) or

retroflexed

adj

1. bent or curved backwards

2. (Phonetics & Phonology) phonetics of, relating to, or involving retroflexion

[C18: from Latin retrōflexus, from retrōflectere, from retro- + flectere to bend]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

ret•ro•flex

(ˈrɛ trəˌflɛks)

adj.

1. bent backward; exhibiting retroflexion.

2. (of a speech sound) articulated with the tip of the tongue curled upward and back toward or against the hard palate.

[1910–15; < Latin retrōflexus, past participle of retrōflectere to bend back]