accent

View more Entertainment & Arts videos

She had...the accent of a good finishing school—John Braine, 1957

'Crème de framboises,' she read in her governessy accent—S. Hill, 1969

She resembled Jackie Kennedy, but—surprisingly—had a strong Scottish accent—J. Bow, 1991.

You must pronounce this all as one word with the accent on the first syllable—C. S. Lewis, 1955.

After 1926 the accent was to lie on the development of technical education—R. Pethybridge, 1990

The early autumn of 1992 produced no less than four major auctions with an accent on matters aeronautical—FlyPast, 1992.

Accent is on comfort when you step in for a relaxing drink

I observed a severe grey skirt, the waist accentuated by a leather belt—William Golding, 1967

Collingwood also has a rather learned look, accentuated by steel spectacles—R. Cobb, 1985

Economic globalization can accentuate existing differences in societies—Baylis & Smith, 2001.

For more information on accent, visit Britannica.com.

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.

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.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

• Harmony, Melody, and Structure - accent: recurring stress or emphasis
• Phonetics - accent: variation in pronunciation of words due to regional, class, or cultural factors; emphasis on particular syllable of word or word within phrase
• Intonation and Inflection - accent: stress (a particular sound or syllable)
• Reasoning and Informing - accent: stress or emphasize

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

If you are unable to view some languages clearly, click here.