1. accent(n = noun.communication) speech pattern - distinctive manner of oral expression; "he couldn't suppress his contemptuous accent"; "she had a very clear speech pattern"
is a kind of pronunciation
has particulars: drawl
Derived form verb accentuate2
2. accent(n = noun.state) emphasis - 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"
is a kind of grandness, importance
has particulars: focus, stress
Derived forms verb accent1, verb accentuate1
3. accent(n = noun.communication) dialect, idiom - 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"
is a kind of non-standard speech
has particulars: eye dialect, patois
Derived form verb accentuate2
4. accent(n = noun.communication) emphasis, stress - the relative prominence of a syllable or musical note (especially with regard to stress or pitch); "he put the stress on the wrong syllable"
is a kind of inflection, prosody
has particulars: accentuation, pitch accent, tonic accent, word accent, word stress, sentence stress
Derived forms verb accent2, adjective accentual2, adjective accentual1, verb accentuate2
5. accent(n = noun.communication) accent mark - a diacritical mark used to indicate stress or placed above a vowel to indicate a special pronunciation; Array
is a kind of diacritic, diacritical mark
has particulars: stress mark, acute, acute accent, ague, grave, grave accent
Derived forms adjective accentual1, verb accentuate2
1. accent(v = verb.communication) accentuate, emphasise, emphasize, punctuate, stress - to stress, single out as important; "Dr. Jones emphasizes exercise in addition to a change in diet"
is one way to evince, express, show
Derived form noun accent2
Sample sentences:
Somebody ----s something; Something ----s something; Somebody ----s that CLAUSE
2. accent(v = verb.communication) accentuate, stress - put stress on; utter with an accent; "In Farsi, you accent the last syllable of each word"
is one way to articulate, enounce, enunciate, pronounce, say, sound out
Derived form noun accent4
Sample sentences:
Somebody ----s something
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. [1913 Webster]
" 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\'b6tion, where the chief stress is on the third syllable, and a slighter stress on the first. Some words, as an′tiap′o-plec\'b6tic, in-com′pre-hen′si-bil\'b6i-ty, have two secondary accents. See Guide to Pron., \'c5\'c5 30-46." [1913 Webster]
2. A mark or character used in writing, and serving to regulate the pronunciation; esp.:
" 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." [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
"The tender accent of a woman's cry." [1913 Webster]
4. A word; a significant tone [1913 Webster]
"Winds! on your wings to Heaven her accents bear,
Such words as Heaven alone is fit to hear." [1913 Webster]
5. Stress laid on certain syllables of a verse. [1913 Webster]
6. A regularly recurring stress upon the tone to mark the beginning, and, more feebly, the third part of the measure. J. S. Dwight. [1913 Webster]
7. 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. To express the accent of (either by the voice or by a mark); to utter or to mark with accent. [1913 Webster]
2. To mark emphatically; to emphasize. [1913 Webster]
accent, n. & v.
--n.
1 a particular mode of pronunciation, esp. one associated with a particular region or group (Liverpool accent; German accent; upper-class accent).
2 prominence given to a syllable by stress or pitch.
3 a mark on a letter or word to indicate pitch, stress, or the quality of a vowel.
4 a distinctive feature or emphasis (an accent on comfort).
5 Mus. emphasis on a particular note or chord.
--v.tr.
1 pronounce with an accent; emphasize (a word or syllable).
2 write or print accents on (words etc.).
3 accentuate.
4 Mus. play (a note etc.) with an accent.
Derivative:
accentual adj.
Etymology:
L accentus (as AC-, cantus song) repr. Gk prosoidia (PROSODY), or through F accent, accenter
N neology, neologism, newfangled expression, nonce expression, back-formation, caconym, barbarism, archaism, black letter, monkish Latin, corruption, missaying, malapropism, antiphrasis, pun, paranomasia, play upon words, word play, double- entendre, palindrome, paragram, anagram, clinch, abuse of language, abuse of terms, dialect, brogue, idiom, accent, patois, provincialism, regionalism, localism, broken English, lingua franca, Anglicism, Briticism, Gallicism, Scotticism, Hibernicism, Americanism, Gypsy lingo, Romany, pidgin, pidgin English, pigeon English, Volapuk, Chinook, Esperanto, Hindustani, kitchen Kaffir, dog Latin, macaronics, gibberish, confusion of tongues, Babel, babu English, chi-chi, figure of speech, byword, colloquialism, informal speech, informal language, substandard language, vernacular, vulgar language, obscene language, obscenity, vulgarity, jargon, technical terms, technicality, lingo, slang, cant, argot, St. Gile's Greek, thieves' Latin, peddler's French, flash tongue, Billingsgate, Wall Street slang, pseudology, pseudonym, Mr, So-and-so, wha d'ye call 'em, whatchacallim, what's his name, thingummy, thingumbob, je ne sais quoi, neologist, coiner of words, neologic, neological, archaic, obsolete, colloquial, Anglice.
N voice, vocality, organ, lungs, bellows, good voice, fine voice, powerful voice, musical voice, intonation, tone of voice, vocalization, cry, strain, utterance, prolation, exclamation, ejaculation, vociferation, ecphonesis, enunciation, articulation, articulate sound, distinctness, clearness, of articulation, stage whisper, delivery, accent, accentuation, emphasis, stress, broad accent, strong accent, pure accent, native accent, foreign accent, pronunciation, homonym, orthoepy, cacoepy, euphony, gastriloquism, ventriloquism, ventriloquist, polyphonism, polyphonist, phonology, vocal, phonetic, oral, ejaculatory, articulate, distinct, stertorous, euphonious, how sweetly sounds the voice of a good woman, the organ of the soul, thy voice is a celestial melody.
N sound, noise, strain, accent, twang, intonation, tone, cadence, sonorousness, audibility, resonance, voice, aspirate, ideophone, rough breathing, acoustics, phonics, phonetics, phonology, phonography, diacoustics, diaphonics, phonetism, sounding, soniferous, sonorous, sonorific, resonant, audible, distinct, stertorous, phonetic, phonic, phonocamptic, a thousand trills and quivering sounds, forensis strepitus.
accent mark, acute accent, grave accent, pitch accent, regional accent, tonic accent, word accent