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When is one used instead of the other?

Is there a reason to use one or the other? Or is just two words that can be used without problems?

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-1 and voted to close as general reference, it was in the first dictionary via Google: thefreedictionary.com/_/dict.aspx?word=reflexion – Hugo Nov 16 '11 at 21:36
While I undertand that both are the same word with different spellings, I like to think of reflections as contemplations, while reflexions seem more like spontaneous responses. – user25597 Sep 2 '12 at 2:13

closed as general reference by J.R., MετάEd, Matt Эллен, Mahnax, tchrist Sep 6 '12 at 2:54

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2 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

Reflexion is used in British English to mean reflection. It is seldom used these days.

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up vote 3 down vote

The same word, two spellings. Oxford English Dictionary...

The spelling reflection is now much commoner than reflexion in all uses, probably largely as a result of association with reflect v.; compare also flexion n., connection n., etc. N.E.D. (1905 ) notes that the spelling reflexion was then ‘still common in scientific use, perhaps through its connexion with reflex’.

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