English → Latin
“circumflex” in Latin
apexThe extreme end of a thing; the point, summit, top.; The small rod (generally of olive wood) at the top of the flamen's DĭŏmēdesA son of Tydeus, king of Aetolia, and Deipyle, the successor of Adrastus in Argoscircumflectōto bend around
The English word circumflex itself goes back to Latin circumflexus.
Riddle & Arnold A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon, 1864
circumflex
circumflexus accentus (Diomedes, 425; P., and other grammarians): apex = the mark of a long syllable placed over the vowels (Vid: Spald., Quint., 1, 5, 23): to place the circumflex over a syllable, syllabam circumducere (Quint., 3. 172, and 12, 10, 33), or circumflectere (Gell., 4, 7, 2); syllabam apice circumducere (if it it contracted from two vowels, Quint., I, 5, 23; compare Ritter, Gramm. Lat., p. 87, note): a syllable which has the circumflex, syllaba circumflexa.
Quick answer
- What is the Latin word for circumflex?
- The usual Latin words for “circumflex” are apex, Dĭŏmēdes, circumflectō. The right choice depends on the sense; see the distinctions below.
Entry from J. E. Riddle & T. K. Arnold, A Copious and Critical English–Latin Lexicon (rev. C. Anthon, New York: Harper, 1864), digitised by Fergus J. P. Walsh, CC BY-SA 4.0; Latin markup adapted by latindictionary.co.