Accent definitions and example sentences on Wordnik

View all »
Definitions (55)

American Heritage Dictionary (19)

noun The relative prominence of a particular syllable of a word by greater intensity or by variation or modulation of pitch or tone.
noun Vocal prominence or emphasis given to a particular syllable, word, or phrase.
noun A characteristic pronunciation, especially:

16 more from this dictionary »

Century Dictionary (26)

A special effort of utterance by which, in a word of two or more syllables, one syllable is made more prominent than the rest. This prominence is given in part by a raised pitch, in part by increased force or stress of voice, and in part (as a consequence of these) by a fuller pronunciation of the constituents of the syllable. These elements are variously combined in different languages. In English, elevation of pitch is conspicuous when a word is spoken or read by itself as a word, without any reference to a sentence of which it forms or should form a part; but in connected speech the tone and modulation of the sentence dominate those of the individual words composing it, and the change of pitch may be absent, or even reversed, the other elements giving without its aid the required prominence. By the native grammarians of the classical languages of our family (Greek, Latin, and Sanskrit), change of pitch was the recognized constituent of accent. They called a syllable acute if its tone was sharpened or raised, grave if it remained at the general level of utterance, and circumflex if it began at acute pitch and ended at grave. A word of three or more syllables often has in our language, besides its principal accent, another and lighter or secondary one, or even also a third; such secondary accents are denoted in this work by a double accent-mark; thus, val″e-tu-dina′ri-an, an″te-pe-nul′ti-mate. The vowels of wholly unaccented syllables in English are much modified, being either made briefer and lighter, or else reduced even to the sound of the so-called neutral vowel, the “short u” of but. These two effects are marked in this work by writing respectively a single or a double dot under the vowel, in the respelling for pronunciation. Emphasis differs from accent in being expended upon a word which is to be made prominent in the sentence.
A mark or character used in writing to direct the stress of the voice in pronunciation, or to mark a particular tone, length of vowel-sound, or the like. There is commonly only one such sign (′) used to mark the stress or accent in English, except in works on elocution, in which are employed the three Greek accents, namely, the acute (´), the grave (`), and the circumflex (~ or ^). In elocution the first shows when the voice is to be raised, and is called the rising inflection; the second, when it is to be depressed, and is called the falling inflection; and the third, when the vowel is to be uttered with an undulating sound, and is called the compound or waving inflection. An accent over the e in -ed is sometimes used in English poetry to denote that it is to be pronounced as a distinct syllable: as, lovèd or lovéd.
In printing, an accented or marked letter; a type bearing an accentual or diacritical mark. The accents most generally used in English type (chiefly for foreign words), and regularly furnished in a full font, are the vowels bearing the acute (´), grave (`), and circumflex (^) accents, and the dieresis (¨), and also the cedilla or French c (ç) and the Spanish n (ñ). Accents for occasional use are the vowels marked long (¯) and short (˘), and other marked letters required for technical works or peculiar to certain languages.

23 more from this dictionary »

View all »
Examples (50)

But Geoffrey was introducing her as Miss Delauny, and when she spoke her accent was as English as his. — Ladies' Bane - Patricia Wentworth - Miss Silver 22
The thickness of his accent was a rough guide to the level of his anger. — Conferences are Murder - McDermid, Val - Lindsay Gordon 04
I must admit, her accent is a bit off putting for my ears. — Laurie Kendrick
NOT Don Cheadle - he can not - i repeat can not do accents, and despite the fact that his accent is the least important factor of the story, I will grimace throughout the whole film if Cheadle tries to emulate a west indian tone. — Entertainment Weekly's PopWatch
The appearance of the accent is a sure sign that she is trying to be manipulative about something. — A Stepmom's Say

More examples »

Add a related word »
Related

Used in the Same Context

tone · gesture · whisper · exclamation · melody · dialect · phrase · rhythm · mood · cry · utterance · emotion

Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

American Heritage Dictionary (1)

Middle English, from Old French, from Latin accentus, accentuation : ad-, ad- + cantus, song (from canere, to sing; see kan- in Indo-European roots).

Century Dictionary (2)

from French accent = Spanish acento = Portuguese Italian accento, from Latin accentus, accent, tone, Late Latin also a blast, signal, fig. intensity, from accinere, sing to (see accentor), from Latin ad, to, + canere, sing: see cant and chant.
from French accenter = Italian accentare; from the noun. Cf. accentuate.

accent

View all »
Definitions (55)

American Heritage Dictionary (19)

Century Dictionary (26)

GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

WordNet (7)

Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

Tags

Stats

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

Add a related word »
Related

Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the Same Context

Word Family

Etymologies (3)

American Heritage Dictionary (1)

Century Dictionary (2)

Pronunciations
Record your own »

Charts

Recently looked up

Recent Favorites

Recent Pronunciations

accent

View all » Definitions (55)

View all » Examples (50)

Tags

Stats

stop updating On Twitter

Photos from

Add a related word » Related

synonyms:

cross reference:

synonyms:

Etymologies (3)

Pronunciations Record your own »

Charts

Recently looked up

Recent Favorites

Recent Pronunciations

View all »
Definitions (55)

View all »
Examples (50)

stop updating
On Twitter

Add a related word »
Related

Pronunciations
Record your own »