accent

/ˈæksɛnt/

Other forms: accents; accented; accenting

An accent is a stress or emphasis on a particular part of something, usually a word. Pronounce the word "doofus" with the accent on the first syllable: DOO-fuss.

Accent comes from the Latin accentus, which means "the intonation of singing." We use accent for different kinds of emphasis in speech. In some foreign languages, the mark above a letter is an accent that signals how to pronounce it. If you accent something, like the "t" on the end of your name, you highlight it. In music, an emphasized note is accented. A regional accent is the particular way that people from that place speak.

Definitions of accent

1. noun

   special importance or significance
   “the room was decorated in shades of grey with distinctive red accents”

   synonyms: emphasis

   types:

   focus, stress

   special emphasis attached to something

   type of:

   grandness, importance

   a prominent status
2. noun

   the relative prominence of a syllable or musical note (especially with regard to stress or pitch)
   synonyms: emphasis, stress

   types:

   accentuation

   the use or application of an accent; the relative prominence of syllables in a phrase or utterance

   pitch accent, tonic accent

   emphasis that results from pitch rather than loudness

   word accent, word stress

   the distribution of stresses within a polysyllabic word

   sentence stress

   the distribution of stresses within a sentence

   type of:

   inflection, prosody

   the patterns of stress and intonation in a language
3. verb

   stress; single out as important
   synonyms: accentuate, emphasise, emphasize, punctuate, stress

   types:

   background, downplay, play down

   understate the importance or quality of

   bring out, set off

   direct attention to, as if by means of contrast

   re-emphasise, re-emphasize

   emphasize anew

   bear down

   pay special attention to

   topicalize

   emphasize by putting heavy stress on or by moving to the front of the sentence

   point up

   emphasize, especially by identification

   drive home, press home, ram home

   make clear by special emphasis and try to convince somebody of something

   emphasise, emphasize, underline, underscore

   give extra weight to (a communication)

   pick up

   lift out or reflect from a background

   wave off

   dismiss as insignificant

   foreground, highlight, play up, spotlight

   move into the foreground to make more visible or prominent

   raise

   bring (a surface or a design) into relief and cause to project

   soft-pedal

   play down or obscure

   type of:

   evince, express, show

   give expression to
4. verb

   put stress on; utter with an accent
   “In Farsi, you accent the last syllable of each word”

   synonyms: accentuate, stress

   type of:

   articulate, enounce, enunciate, pronounce, say, sound out

   speak, pronounce, or utter in a certain way
5. noun

   a diacritical mark used to indicate stress or placed above a vowel to indicate a special pronunciation
   synonyms: accent mark

   types:

   stress mark

   a mark indicating the stress on a syllable

   acute, acute accent, ague

   a mark (') placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation

   grave, grave accent

   a mark (`) placed above a vowel to indicate pronunciation

   type of:

   diacritic, diacritical mark

   a mark added to a letter to indicate a special pronunciation
6. noun

   the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people
   “he has a strong German accent”

   synonyms: dialect, idiom

   types:

   eye dialect

   the use of misspellings to identify a colloquial or uneducated speaker

   patois

   a regional dialect of a language (especially French); usually considered substandard

   brogue

   a strong regional accent, especially an Irish or Scottish accent

   type of:

   non-standard speech

   speech that differs from the usual accepted, easily recognizable speech of native adult members of a speech community
7. noun

   distinctive manner of oral expression
   “he couldn't suppress his contemptuous accent”

   synonyms: speech pattern

   types:

   drawl

   a slow speech pattern with prolonged vowels

   type of:

   pronunciation

   the manner in which someone utters a word
8. noun

   a detail or feature that adds visual emphasis to or contrasts with its surroundings
   type of:

   detail, item, particular

   a small part that can be considered separately from the whole