accent Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun distinctive manner of oral expression
    speech pattern.
    • he couldn't suppress his contemptuous accent
    • she had a very clear speech pattern
  2. noun special importance or significance
    emphasis.
    • the red light gave the central figure increased emphasis
    • the room was decorated in shades of grey with distinctive red accents
  3. noun the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people
    dialect; idiom.
    • 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
  4. noun the relative prominence of a syllable or musical note (especially with regard to stress or pitch)
    stress; emphasis.
    • he put the stress on the wrong syllable
  5. noun a diacritical mark used to indicate stress or placed above a vowel to indicate a special pronunciation
    accent mark.
  6. verb to stress, single out as important
    emphasise; punctuate; stress; accentuate; emphasize.
    • Dr. Jones emphasizes exercise in addition to a change in diet
  7. verb put stress on; utter with an accent
    stress; accentuate.
    • In Farsi, you accent the last syllable of each word

WordNet

Ac"cent` noun
Etymology
F. accent, L. accentus; ad + cantus a singing, canere to sing. See Cant.
Definitions
  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. ✍ 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. ✍ 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.) 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" transitive verb
Etymology
OF. accenter, F. accentuer.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Accented; present participle & verbal noun Accenting
Definitions
  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.

Webster 1913