Etymograph

English

deflect

Deflect comes from Latin deflecto ‘to bend or turn downwards or away’, and goes back to flecto.

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEflecto1‘to bend’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdeflecto1‘to bend or turn downwards or away’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1979deflect1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English deflect
  2. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1979, Rudy Kikel, Young Men: “Certainly there was much in the relationship itself that,…”.

Lineage

  1. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEflectoWiktionary, English deflect‘to bend’
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEdeflectoWiktionary, English deflect‘to bend or turn downwards or away’
  3. Englishearliest quotation 1979deflectWiktionary, English deflect. Earliest quotation in Wiktionary’s entry: 1979, Rudy Kikel, Young Men: “Certainly there was much in the relationship itself that,…”

Linked words

through Latin flecto ‘to bend’

flexible, flexibility, reflect, flex, inflection, 12 more

Today it means

verb To make (something) deviate from its original path or position.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “deflect”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

Etymograph / Latin flecto / deflect

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