Deflections

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The act or process of changing direction from a straight path due to an external force
2. the alteration of course in a physical or metaphorical sense
3. a deviation from an intended target or objective in various contexts

Etymology: "Deflections" is the plural of "deflection," and the noun traces back to Latin "deflexio," from "deflectere," meaning "to bend aside" or "to turn away from a course." The Latin verb combined "de-," meaning "away" or "down," with "flectere," "to bend," so the root sense is literally a bending away. That physical image of bending something off its path carries straight into the modern meaning of a change of direction. The spelling is a little misleading. The "-ct-" in "deflect" does not come from the Latin noun, which was built on the stem "deflex-." English instead took the spelling from the present stem "deflect-," the form that also appears in words like "collection" and "dissection," so "deflection" looks like a regular English formation from "deflect" plus "-ion." Read that way, the spelling is an English adjustment rather than a faithful copy of the Latin.

Synonyms: deviations, diversions, bends, turns, shifts