• 1. a mark ( ) placed over a vowel to show that it is pronounced with rising and falling pitch, as in ancient Greek, as a long vowel rather than a short one, as in French, or with some other different quality
• 2. (of certain nerves, arteries, or veins) bending or curving around
• 3. C16: from Latin circumflexus, from circumflectere to bend around, from circum- + flectere to bend

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