ACCENT

accent, accent mark

(noun) a diacritical mark used to indicate stress or placed above a vowel to indicate a special pronunciation

stress, emphasis, accent

(noun) the relative prominence of a syllable or musical note (especially with regard to stress or pitch); “he put the stress on the wrong syllable”

accent, speech pattern

(noun) distinctive manner of oral expression; “he couldn’t suppress his contemptuous accent”; “she had a very clear speech pattern”

dialect, idiom, accent

(noun) the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people; “the immigrants spoke an odd dialect of English”; “he has a strong German accent”; “it has been said that a language is a dialect with an army and navy”

emphasis, accent

(noun) special importance or significance; “the red light gave the central figure increased emphasis”; “the room was decorated in shades of grey with distinctive red accents”

stress, accent, accentuate

(verb) put stress on; utter with an accent; “In Farsi, you accent the last syllable of each word”

stress, emphasize, emphasise, punctuate, accent, accentuate

(verb) to stress, single out as important; “Dr. Jones emphasizes exercise in addition to a change in diet”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology 1

Noun

accent (countable and uncountable, plural accents)

(linguistics) A higher-pitched or stronger articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to emphasize it.

(figuratively) Emphasis or importance in general.

(orthography) A mark or character used in writing, in order to indicate the place of the spoken accent, or to indicate the nature or quality of the vowel marked.

Modulation of the voice in speaking; the manner of speaking or pronouncing; a peculiar or characteristic modification of the voice, expressing emotion; tone.

(linguistics, sociolinguistics) The distinctive manner of pronouncing a language associated with a particular region, social group, etc, whether of a native speaker or a foreign speaker; the phonetic and phonological aspects of a dialect.

(linguistics, sign languages) A distinctive manner of producing a sign language, such as someone who does not normally use a certain sign language might have when using it.

(usually, plural only) Expressions in general; speech.

(prosody, poetry) Stress laid on certain syllables of a verse.

(music) A regularly recurring stress upon the tone to mark the beginning, and, more feebly, the third part of the measure.

(music) A special emphasis of a tone, even in the weaker part of the measure.

(music) The rhythmical accent, which marks phrases and sections of a period.

(music) The expressive emphasis and shading of a passage.

(music) A mark used to represent specific stress on a note.

(mathematics) A mark placed at the right hand of a letter, and a little above it, to distinguish magnitudes of a similar kind expressed by the same letter, but differing in value, as y', y.

(geometry) A mark at the right hand of a number, indicating minutes of a degree, seconds, etc, as in 12' 27, meaning twelve minutes and twenty-seven seconds.

(engineering) A mark used to denote feet and inches, as in 6' 10'', meaning six feet ten inches.

Emphasis laid on a part of an artistic design or composition; an emphasized detail, in particular a detail in sharp contrast to its surroundings.

A very small gemstone set into a piece of jewellery.

A distinctive feature or quality.

(archaic) Utterance.

Usage notes

The word "accent" is often used specifically to refer to manners of speech that differ significantly from the local standard or one's personal speech.

Etymology 2

Verb

accent (third-person singular simple present accents, present participle accenting, simple past and past participle accented)

(transitive) To express the accent of vocally; to utter with accent.

(transitive) To mark emphatically; to emphasize; to accentuate; to make prominent.

(transitive) To mark with written accents.

Source: Wiktionary

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Ac"cent`, n. Etym: [F. accent, L. accentus; ad + cantus a singing, canere to sing. See Cant.]

1. A superior force of voice or of articulative effort upon some particular syllable of a word or a phrase, distinguishing it from the others.

Note: Many English words have two accents, the primary and the secondary; the primary being uttered with a greater stress of voice than the secondary; as in as'pira''tion, where the chief stress is on the third syllable, and a slighter stress on the first. Some words, as an'tiap'o-plec''tic, in-com'pre-hen'si-bil''i-ty, have two secondary accents. See Guide to Pron., tt 30-46.

2. A mark or character used in writing, and serving to regulate the pronunciation; esp.: (a) a mark to indicate the nature and place of the spoken accent; (b) a mark to indicate the quality of sound of the vowel marked; as, the French accents.

Note: In the ancient Greek the acute accent (') meant a raised tone or pitch, the grave (`), the level tone or simply the negation of accent, the circumflex ( ~ or ^) a tone raised and then depressed. In works on elocution, the first is often used to denote the rising inflection of the voice; the second, the falling inflection; and the third (^), the compound or waving inflection. In dictionaries, spelling books, and the like, the acute accent is used to designate the syllable which receives the chief stress of voice.

3. Modulation of the voice in speaking; manner of speaking or pronouncing; peculiar or characteristic modification of the voice; tone; as, a foreign accent; a French or a German accent. "Beguiled you in a plain accent." Shak. "A perfect accent." Thackeray. The tender accent of a woman's cry. Prior.

4. A word; a significant tone; (pl.) expressions in general; speech. Winds! on your wings to Heaven her accents bear, Such words as Heaven alone is fit to hear. Dryden.

5. (Pros.)

Definition: Stress laid on certain syllables of a verse.

6. (Mus.) (a) A regularly recurring stress upon the tone to mark the beginning, and, more feebly, the third part of the measure. (b) A special emphasis of a tone, even in the weaker part of the measure. (c) The rythmical accent, which marks phrases and sections of a period. (d) The expressive emphasis and shading of a passage. J. S. Dwight.

7. (Math.) (a) A mark placed at the right hand of a letter, and a little above it, to distinguish magnitudes of a similar kind expressed by the same letter, but differing in value, as y', y''. (b) (Trigon.) A mark at the right hand of a number, indicating minutes of a degree, seconds, etc.; as, 12'27'', i. e., twelve minutes twenty seven seconds. (c) (Engin.) A mark used to denote feet and inches; as, 6' 10'' is six feet ten inches.

Ac*cent", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Accented; p. pr. & vb. n. Accenting.] Etym: [OF. accenter, F. accentuer.]

1. To express the accent of (either by the voice or by a mark); to utter or to mark with accent.

2. To mark emphatically; to emphasize.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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