accent

From Middle English accent, from Middle French accent, from Old French acent, from Latin accentus, past participle of accinō (“sing to, sing along”). The word accent had been borrowed into Old English already, but was lost and reborrowed in Middle English.

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ăkʹsənt, IPA^(key): /ˈæk.sənt/
• (US) enPR: ăkʹsĕnt, IPA^(key): /ˈæk.sɛnt/

accent (countable and uncountable, plural accents)

1. (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.

   In the word "careful", the accent is placed on the first syllable.

2. (figuratively) Emphasis or importance in general.

   At this hotel, the accent is on luxury.

3. (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.

   The name Cézanne is written with an acute accent.

4. Modulation of the voice in speaking; the manner of speaking or pronouncing; a peculiar or characteristic modification of the voice, expressing emotion; tone.
   • 1608, William Shakespeare, King Lear, II-ii

     I know, sir, I am no flatterer: he that beguiled you in a plain accent was a plain knave; which for my part I will not be, though I should win your displeasure to entreat me to 't.

   • 1696, Matthew Prior, "From Celia to Damon", in Poems on Several Occasions

     The tender Accent of a Woman's Cry / Will pass unheard, will unregarded die;

   • 1815, Jane Austen, Emma, volume I, chapter 15:

     And he repeated her words with such assurance of accent, such boastful pretence of amazement, that she could not help replying with quickness …

5. (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.

   a foreign accent   an American, British or Australian accent

   a broad Irish accent

   a hint of a German accent

6. (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.
   • 2008, Jeremy Linn Brunson, The Practice and Organization of Sign Language, page 76:

     I believe I still retain some of my hearing accent when I use American Sign Language.

   • 2015 December 3, [./http://www.pri.org/stories/2015-12-03/philadelphia-accent-sign-language There's a distinctly Philadelphia accent in American Sign Language]
7. A word; a significant tone or sound.
8. (usually plural only) Expressions in general; speech.
   • Dryden

     Winds! on your wings to Heaven her accents bear, / Such words as Heaven alone is fit to hear.

9. (prosody, poetry) Stress laid on certain syllables of a verse.
10. (music) A regularly recurring stress upon the tone to mark the beginning, and, more feebly, the third part of the measure.
11. (music) A special emphasis of a tone, even in the weaker part of the measure.
12. (music) The rhythmical accent, which marks phrases and sections of a period.
13. (music) The expressive emphasis and shading of a passage.

    (Can we find and add a quotation of J. S. Dwight to this entry?)

14. (music) A mark used to represent specific stress on a note.
15. (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''.
16. (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.
17. (engineering) A mark used to denote feet and inches, as in 6' 10'', meaning six feet ten inches.
18. Emphasis laid on a part of an artistic design or composition; an emphasized detail, in particular a detail in sharp contrast to its surroundings.
19. A very small gemstone set into a piece of jewellery.
20. A distinctive feature or quality.
21. (archaic) Utterance.

the word "accent" is often used specifically to refer to manners of speech that differ significantly from the local standard.

• circumflex

• “Accent, sb.” on pages 50–51 of § 1 (A) of volume I (A–B, ed. James Augustus Henry Murray?, 1888) of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (1st ed.)
• “accent, n.” in the Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., 1989)

From Middle French accenter, from Old French accenter, from Latin accentō, from accentus.

• (Received Pronunciation) enPR: ăk-sĕntʹ, IPA^(key): /ækˈsɛnt/
• (US) enPR: ăk-sĕntʹ, ăkʹsĕnt, IPA^(key): /ækˈsɛnt/, /ˈæk.sɛnt/

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

1. (transitive) To express the accent of vocally; to utter with accent.
2. (transitive) To mark emphatically; to emphasize; to accentuate; to make prominent.
3. (transitive) To mark with written accents.

• “Accent, v.” on page 51/3 of § 1 (A) of volume I (A–B, ed. James Augustus Henry Murray?, 1888) of A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (1st ed.)
• “accent, v.” in the Oxford English Dictionary (2nd ed., 1989)

From Latin accentus.

accent m (plural accents)

1. accent

• accentuar

• “accent” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.

From Latin accentus.

• IPA^(key): /akˈsɛnt/, [ɑɡ̊ˈsɛnd̥]

accent c (singular definite accenten, plural indefinite accenter)

1. accent (a nonstandard way of pronouncing, a mark used in writing, a stronger articulation)

From Middle Dutch accent, ultimately from Latin accentus.

• IPA^(key): /ɑkˈsɛnt/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: ac‧cent
• Rhymes: -ɛnt

accent n (plural accenten, diminutive accentje n)

1. accent (nonstandard way of pronouncing)

• accentueren

• Afrikaans: aksent

• IPA^(key): /ak.sɑ̃/

• Audio

  (file)

accent m (plural accents)

1. accent, manner or tone of speech
2. (linguistics) an accent symbol
3. (linguistics) accent, stress
4. (music) strain, section

• accent aigu
• accent grave

• “accent” in le Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

From Old French acent, from Latin accentus, from ad + cantus (“song”).

accent m (plural accents)

1. (linguistics) accent, stress

Borrowed from Latin accentus.

• IPA^(key): /ˈɑk.kent/

accent m

1. an accent

   baric, ðæt ys hefig accent — baric, that is a heavy accent

• 1916, John R. Clark, "A Concise Anglo-Saxon Dictionary for the Use of Students", accent
• 2010, J. Bosworth, An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online (T. N. Toller & Others, Eds.), accent

• IPA^(key): /a(k)ˈsɛnt/

accent (plural accents)

1. accent

• IPA^(key): /akːˈsɛnːt/, /akːˈsaŋː/

accent c

1. an accent, an emphasis, a stress (in articulation)
2. an accent, a mark on a letter (grave or acute)
3. an accent, a voice influenced by dialect or another language