Lexic.us

Definition of Accent

1. Noun. Distinctive manner of oral expression. "She had a very clear speech pattern"

2. Verb. To stress, single out as important. "Dr. Jones emphasizes exercise in addition to a change in diet"

3. Noun. Special importance or significance. "The room was decorated in shades of grey with distinctive red accents"

4. Verb. Put stress on; utter with an accent. "In Farsi, you accent the last syllable of each word"

5. Noun. The usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people. "It has been said that a language is a dialect with an army and navy"

6. 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"

7. Noun. A diacritical mark used to indicate stress or placed above a vowel to indicate a special pronunciation.

Definition of Accent

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

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

Definition of Accent

1. Noun. (context: 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. ¹

2. Noun. (context: figuratively) Emphasis or importance in general. ¹

3. Noun. (context: linguistics) 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. ¹

4. Noun. (context: linguistics) Modulation of the voice in speaking; the manner of speaking or pronouncing; a peculiar or characteristic modification of the voice, expressing emotion; tone. ¹

5. Noun. A word; a significant tone or sound. ¹

6. Noun. (context: usually pluralonly) Expressions in general; speech. ¹

7. Noun. (context: prosody poetry) Stress laid on certain syllables of a verse. ¹

8. Noun. (context: music) A regularly recurring stress upon the tone to mark the beginning, and, more feebly, the third part of the measure. ¹

9. Noun. (context: music) A special emphasis of a tone, even in the weaker part of the measure. ¹

10. Noun. (context: music) The rhythmical accent, which marks phrases and sections of a period. ¹

11. Noun. (context: music) The expressive emphasis and shading of a passage. ¹

12. Noun. (context: music) A mark used to represent specific stress on a note. ¹

13. Noun. (context: 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'''''. ¹

14. Noun. (context: 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. ¹

15. Noun. (context: engineering) A mark used to denote feet and inches, as in '''6' 10''''', meaning six feet ten inches. ¹

16. Noun. Emphasis laid on a part of an artistic design or composition; an emphasized detail, in particular a detail in sharp contrast to its surroundings. ¹

17. Noun. A very small gemstone set into a piece of jewellery. ¹

18. Noun. A distinctive feature or quality. ¹

19. Noun. (context: archaic) Utterance. ¹

20. Verb. (context: transitive) To express the accent of vocally; to utter with accent. ¹

21. Verb. (context: transitive) To mark emphatically; to emphasize; to accentuate; to make prominent. ¹

22. Verb. (context: transitive) To mark with written accents. ¹

¹ Source: wiktionary.com

Definition of Accent

1. to pronounce with prominence [v -ED, -ING, -S]

Medical Definition of Accent

1. 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. 2. A mark or character used in writing, and serving to regulate the pronunciation; especially., a mark to indicate the nature and place of the spoken accent; 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." . "A perfect accent." . "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. Stress laid on certain syllables of a verse. 6. A regularly recurring stress upon the tone to mark the beginning, and, more feebly, the third part of the measure. A special emphasis of a tone, even in the weaker part of the measure. The rythmical accent, which marks phrases and sections of a period. The expressive emphasis and shading of a passage. 7. A mark used to denote feet and inches; as, 6' 10'' is six feet ten inches. Origin: F. Accent, L. Accentus; ad + cantus a singing, canere to sing. See Cant. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Accent

accelerometers accelerometric accelerometry acceleron accelerons accend accended accendibility accendible accending

accends accension accensions accensor accensors accent (current term) accent acute accent grave accent mark accent marks

accented accenting accentless accentlessly accentlessness accentor accentors accents accentuable accentual

Literary usage of Accent

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. A Grammar of the German Language: Designed for a Thoro and Practical Study by George Oliver Curme (1922)
"E. accent of Derivatives formed from Compounds and Compounds formed from ... The accent here depends upon whether the word is still distinctly felt as a ..."

2. English Grammar, Adapted to the Different Classes of Learners: With an by Lindley Murray (1832)
"accent. therefore, seems to he regulated in a great measure by etymology. In words from the Saxon, the accent is generally on the root; in words from the ..."

3. The Encyclopaedia Britannica: A Dictionary of Arts, Sciences, Literature and (1910)
"Swedish also has a well-marked musical accent. Modern Greek has changed from pitch to stress, the stress being generally laid upon- the same syllable in ..."

4. The American Journal of Psychology by Granville Stanley Hall, Edward Bradford Titchener (1913)
"Kin- aesthetic sensation from left foot, down with accent, up with non- accent. ... These sensations are more intense on the accent and less intense on the ..."

5. Dictionary of Philosophy and Psychology: Including Many of the Principal by James Mark Baldwin (1901)
"The Greek word-accent was a matter of varying pitch, accompanied also undoubtedly ... The English word- accent is distinguished most prominently by stress, ..."

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