accent

1. The relative prominence of a particular syllable of a word by greater intensity or by variation or modulation of pitch or tone.
2. Vocal prominence or emphasis given to a particular syllable, word, or phrase.
3. A characteristic pronunciation, especially:
   1. One determined by the regional or social background of the speaker.
   2. One determined by the phonetic habits of the speaker's native language carried over to his or her use of another language.
4. A mark or symbol used in the printing and writing of certain languages to indicate the vocal quality to be given to a particular letter: an acute accent.
5. A mark or symbol used in printing and writing to indicate the stressed syllables of a spoken word.
6. Rhythmically significant stress in a line of verse.
7. Music.
   1. Emphasis or prominence given to a note or chord, as by an increase in volume or extended duration.
   2. A mark representing this.
8. Mathematics.
   1. A mark used as a superscript to distinguish among variables represented by the same symbol.
   2. A mark used as a superscript to indicate the first derivative of a variable.
9. A mark or one of several marks used as a superscript to indicate a unit, such as feet (′) and inches (″) in linear measurement.
10. 1. A distinctive feature or quality, such as a feature that accentuates, contrasts with, or complements a decorative style.
    2. Something that accentuates or contrasts something else, as a touch of color that makes the features of an image stand out.
11. Particular importance or interest; emphasis: The accent is on comfort. See synonyms at emphasis.

1. To stress or emphasize the pronunciation of.
2. To mark with a printed accent.
3. To focus attention on; accentuate: a program that accents leadership development.

[Middle English, from Old French, from Latin accentus, accentuation : ad-, ad- + cantus, song (from canere, to sing).]

noun

1. A particular vocal quality that indicates some emotion or feeling: inflection, intonation, tone. Idioms: tone of voice. See sounds/pleasant sounds/unpleasant sounds/neutral sounds or silence.
2. Special weight placed upon something considered important: accentuation, emphasis, stress. See important/unimportant.

verb

To accord emphasis to: accentuate, emphasize, feature, highlight, italicize, play up, point up, stress, underline, underscore. See important/unimportant.

Definition: importance, emphasis
Antonyms: unimportance

v

Definition: placing emphasis, importance
Antonyms: disacknowledge, minimize

The prominence given to a note or notes in performance usually by a marked increase in volume or prolongation.

accent, the emphasis placed upon a syllable in pronunciation. The term is often used as a synonym for stress, although some theorists prefer to use ‘stress’ only for metrical accent. Three kinds of accent may be distinguished, according to the factor that accounts for each: etymological accent (or ‘word accent’) is the emphasis normally given to a syllable according to the word's derivation or morphology; rhetorical accent (or ‘sense accent’) is allocated according to the relative importance of the word in the context of a sentence or question; metrical accent (or stress) follows a recurrent pattern of stresses in a verse line (see metre). Where metrical accent overrides etymological or rhetorical accent, as it often does in ballads and songs (Coleridge: ‘in a far coun‐tree’), the effect is known as a wrenched accent. See also ictus, recessive accent.

For more information on accent, visit Britannica.com.

The rhythmically significant stress in the articulation of words, giving some syllables more relative prominence than others. In words of two or more syllables, one syllable is almost invariably stressed more strongly than the other syllables. In words of one syllable, the degree of stress normally depends on their grammatical function; nouns, verbs, and adjectives are usually given more stress than articles or prepositions. The words in a line of poetry are usually arranged so the accents occur at regular intervals, with the meter defined by the placement of the accents within the foot. Accent should not be construed as emphasis.

Tutor's tip: It's easy to hear a distinct "accent" (style of speech) when you "ascend" (go up) to the Appalachian mountains. Making an "ascent" is to make an upward movement, while "assent" means to agree.

Dansk (Danish)
n. - accent, tonefald
v. tr. - betone, give eftertryk, accentuere

idioms:

• put accent on    lægge vægten på, lægge vægt på, betone

Nederlands (Dutch)
accent, klemtoon/ nadruk, uitspraak, leesteken, accentueren, van leestekens voorzien

Français (French)
n. - accent, emphase, accentuation, accents, paroles
v. tr. - accentuer, faire ressortir, souligner, attirer l'attention de, (fig) accentuer, mettre en valeur

idioms:

• put accent on    mettre l'accent sur, accentuer sur

Deutsch (German)
n. - Akzent, Betonung, Betonungszeichen, Tonfall
v. - akzentuieren, betonen, herausheben

idioms:

• put accent on    besonderen Wert legen auf

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - τόνος, έμφαση, υπογράμμιση, (ξενική ή ιδιόμορφη) προφορά, "αξάν", (εκφραστικό) ύφος, γενικός τόνος, (γραμμ.) τόνος, σημείο τονισμού, (μουσ.) τονισμός, διακεκριμένο χαρακτηριστικό ή ποιότητα
v. - τονίζω, (μτφ.) υπογραμμίζω, δίνω έμφαση σε

idioms:

• put accent on    δίνω έμφαση σε

Italiano (Italian)
accento, accentuare

idioms:

• put accent on    porre l'accento su

Português (Portuguese)
n. - acento (m) (Gram.)
v. - acentuar

idioms:

• acute accent    acento agudo
• grave accent    acento grave
• put accent on    colocar acento em

Русский (Russian)
делать ударение, подчеркивать, акцентировать, акцент, упор, выделение, знак ударения, диалект

idioms:

• acute accent    акут
• grave accent    гравис
• put accent on    делать упор на чем-то

Español (Spanish)
n. - acento, énfasis, dejo típico de un idioma, región, etc.
v. tr. - acentuar, subrayar, recalcar

idioms:

• put accent on    poner énfasis en, hacer hincapié en

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - betoning, tonvikt
v. - betona, accentuera

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
重音, 口音, 腔调, 重音符号, 声调, 重读, 强调, 极力主张, 着重, 带...口音讲话

idioms:

• put accent on    在...上加重音, 强调..., 加强...

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 重音, 口音, 腔調, 重音符號, 聲調
v. tr. - 重讀, 強調, 極力主張, 著重, 帶...口音講話

idioms:

• put accent on    在...上加重音, 強調..., 加強...

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 악센트(부호), 강조, 특색, 말투, 시구
v. tr. - 악센트(부호)를 붙이다, 강조하다

idioms:

• put accent on    강조하다

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - アクセント, アクセント記号, 強音, 強勢記号, 地方なまり, 強調, 引き立たせるもの, 口調, ことば
v. - 強める, アクセントを付ける

idioms:

• put accent on    強調する

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) نبره, لهجه, علامه نطقيه " حركه تستعمل في الكتابه تدل على نبرة اللفظ " (فعل) رمز التوكيد يستعمل للدلاله في النوتات الموسيقيه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮הטעמה, מבטא, נגינה, ניב, דגש‬
v. tr. - ‮הדגיש, הטעים, הבליט‬

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