circumflexes

n. [ L. circumflexus a bending round, fr. circumflectere, circumflexum, to bend or turn about; circum + flectere to bend. See Flexible. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A wave of the voice embracing both a rise and fall or a fall and a rise on the same a syllable. Walker. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A character, or accent, denoting in Greek a rise and of the voice on the same long syllable, marked thus [ ~ or &unr_; ]; and in Latin and some other languages, denoting a long and contracted syllable, marked [ &unr_; or ^ ]. See Accent, n., 2. [ 1913 Webster ]