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Origin and history of deflection

deflection(n.)

also (and with more etymological propriety) deflexion, "act of turning or state of being turned aside," c. 1600, from Latin deflexionem, noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin deflectere "to bend (something) aside or downward," from de "away" (see de-) + flectere "to bend," which is of uncertain origin. Both forms were in use in 17c., but since then the spelling with -c- has come to predominate.

also from c. 1600

Entries linking to deflection

de-

active word-forming element in English and in many verbs inherited from French and Latin, from Latin de "down, down from, from, off; concerning" (see de), also used as a prefix in Latin, usually meaning "down, off, away, from among, down from," but also "down to the bottom, totally" hence "completely" (intensive or completive), which is its sense in many English words.

As a Latin prefix it also had the function of undoing or reversing a verb's action, and hence it came to be used as a pure privative — "not, do the opposite of, undo" — which is its primary function as a living prefix in English, as in defrost (1895), defuse (1943), de-escalate (1964), etc. In some cases, a reduced form of dis-.

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    warp
    "to bend, twist, distort," Old English weorpan "to throw, throw away, hit with a missile," from Proto-Germanic *werpanan "to fling by turning the arm" (source also of Old Saxon werpan, Old Norse verpa "to throw," Swedish värpa "to lay eggs," Old Frisian werpa, Middle Low German a
    refraction
    "act of refracting; state of being refracted," 1570s, from Late Latin refractionem (nominative refractio) "a breaking up," noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin refringere "to break up," from re- "back" (see re-) + combining form of frangere "to break" (from PIE root
    diversion
    early 15c., diversioun, "process of diverting," from Medieval Latin diversionem (nominative diversio), noun of action from past-participle stem of Latin divertere (see divert). Meaning "act of turning aside from a course of action" is from c. 1600; that of "act of diverting (some
    motion
    late 14c., mocioun, "process of moving; change of place, continuous variation of position;" also "suggestion, proposal or proposition formally made," from Old French mocion "movement, motion; change, alteration" (13c., Modern French motion) and directly from Latin motionem (nomin
    movement
    late 14c., mevement, "change of position; passage from place to place," from Old French movement "movement, exercise; start, instigation" (Modern French mouvement), from Medieval Latin movimentum, from Latin movere "to move, set in motion" (from PIE root *meue- "to push away"). I
    wrap
    early 14c., wrappen, "to wind (something around something else), cover (something), conceal; bind up, swaddle; fold (something) up or back on itself," of uncertain origin, perhaps via Scandinavian (compare Danish dialectal vravle "to wind"), from PIE *werp- "to turn, wind," from
    deviation
    late 14c., "a going astray, a turning aside from the (right) way or course, a going wrong, error," from Late Latin deviatus, past participle of deviare "turn aside, turn out of the way," from Latin phrase de via, from de "off, away" (see de-) + via "way" (see via). From 1630s as
    red herring
    "smoked herring" early 15c. (they turn red when cured), as opposed to white herring "fresh herring." Supposedly used by fugitives to put bloodhounds off their scent (1680s), hence metaphoric sense (1864) of "something used to divert attention from the basic issue;" earlier it sim
    runt
    c. 1500, "old or decayed tree stump" (Douglas), a provincial word of unknown origin. The meaning was extended to "small ox or cow," especially of the breeds characteristic of Wales and the Scottish Highlands (1540s, if indeed this is the same word), and by 1610s generally to unde
    turn
    late Old English turnian "to rotate, revolve," in part also from Old French torner "to turn away or around; draw aside, cause to turn; change, transform; turn on a lathe" (Modern French tourner), both from Latin tornare "to polish, round off, fashion, turn on a lathe," from tornu

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