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Syntactical change of form of words, as by declension or conjugation; inflection. Express the syntactical relations by flexion. Sir W. Hamilton.

n color from the mass of the material, as when green crystals of fluor spar afford blue reflections. It is due not to the difference in the color of a distinct surface layer, but to the power which the substance has of modifying the light incident upon it. The light emitted by fluorescent substances is in general of lo…

A thin coat of tin, with quicksilver, laid on the back of a looking-glass, to cause reflection.

An arch or fold; as, the fornix, or vault, of the cranium; the fornix, or reflection, of the conjuctiva.

A white arc or circle in the sky attending frosty weather and formed by reflection of sunlight from ice crystals floating in the air; the parhelic circle whose center is at the zenith.

trument or apparatus for measuring the intensity of an electric current, usually by the deflection of a magnetic needle. Differential galvanometer. See under Differental, a. -- Sine galvanometer, Cosine galvanometer, Tangent galvanometer (Elec.), a galvanometer in which the sine, cosine, or tangent respectively, of th…

A false image formed in a telescope by reflection from the surfaces of one or more lenses. Ghost moth (Zoöl.), a large European moth (Hepialus humuli); so called from the white color of the male, and the peculiar hovering flight; -- called also great swift. -- Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit; the Paraclete; the Comforter;…

To make an incidental or passing reflection; to allude; to hint; - - often with at. Wherein obscurely Cæsar''s ambition shall be glanced at. Shak. He glanced at a certain reverend doctor. Swift.

A brief reflection or maxim. Peacham.

n, of the sixth century B. C., whose writings consist of short sententious precepts and reflections.

A collection of, or a treatise on, maxims, grave sentences, or reflections. [Obs.] Milton.

ve' them the last tincture of crimson in grain. Quoted by Coleridge, preface to Aids to Reflection.

Without due reflection; precipitately; rashly. We hastily engaged in the war. Swift.

anomalous either in declension or conjugation, or which deviates from ordinary forms of inflection in words of a like kind; especially, a noun which is irregular in declension.

A figure in which the several parts of a sentence end with the same case, or inflection generally.

-- Ice blink Etym: [Dan. iisblink], a streak of whiteness of the horizon, caused by the reflection of light from ice not yet in sight. -- Ice boat. (a) A boat fitted with skates or runners, and propelled on ice by sails; an ice yacht. (b) A strong steamboat for breaking a channel through ice. -- Ice box or chest, a b…

th an eyeglass, as in the telescope and microscope; the likeness of an object formed by reflection; as, to see one's image in a mirror. Electrical image. See under Electrical. -- Image breaker, one who destroys images; an iconoclast. -- Image graver, Image maker, a sculptor. -- Image worship, the worship of images a…

inst; to touch upon; to strike; to hit; to ciash with; -- with on or upon. The cause of reflection is not the impinging of light on the solid or impervious parts of bodies. Sir I. Newton. But, in the present order of things, not to be employed without impinging on God's justice. Bp. Warburton.

Having inflections; capable of, or subject to, inflection; inflective. Inflected cycloid (Geom.), a prolate cycloid. See Cycloid.

Capable of, or pertaining to, inflection; deflecting; as, the inflective quality of the air. Derham.