Dictionary
ac•cent
Pronunciation: (
—n.ak'sent;
—v.ak'sent, ak-sent'), [key]—
n.
1. prominence of a syllable in terms of differential loudness, or of pitch, or length, or of a combination of these.
2. degree of prominence of a syllable within a word and sometimes of a word within a phrase:
primary accent; secondary accent.
3. a mark indicating stress (as ', ", or ´, ´´, or ', "), vowel quality (as French grave
`, acute
´, circumflex
^ ), form (as French
la “the” versus
là “there”), or pitch.
4. any similar mark.
5. Pros.
a. regularly recurring stress.
b. a mark indicating stress or some other distinction in pronunciation or value.
6. a musical tone or pattern of pitch inherent in a particular language either as a feature essential to the identification of a vowel or a syllable or to the general acoustic character of the language. Cf.
tone (def. 7).
7. Often,
accents.
a. the unique speech patterns, inflections, choice of words, etc., that identify a particular individual:
We recognized his accents immediately. She corrected me in her usual mild accents.
b. the distinctive style or tone characteristic of an author, composer, etc.:
the unmistakably Brahmsian accents of the sonata; She recognized the familiar accents of Robert Frost in the poem.
8. a mode of pronunciation, as pitch or tone, emphasis pattern, or intonation, characteristic of or peculiar to the speech of a particular person, group, or locality:
French accent; Southern accent. Cf.
tone (def. 5).
9. such a mode of pronunciation recognized as being of foreign origin:
He still speaks with an accent.
10. Music.
a. a stress or emphasis given to certain notes.
b. a mark noting this.
c. stress or emphasis regularly recurring as a feature of rhythm.
11. Math.
a. a symbol used to distinguish similar quantities that differ in value, as in
b',
b",
bt' (called
b prime, b second or
b double prime, b third or
b triple prime, respectively).
b. a symbol used to indicate a particular unit of measure, as feet (') or inches ("), minutes (') or seconds (").
c. a symbol used to indicate the order of a derivative of a function in calculus, as
f' (called
f prime) is the first derivative of a function
f.
12. words or tones expressive of some emotion.
13. accents,words; language; speech:
He spoke in accents bold.
14. distinctive character or tone:
an accent of whining complaint.
15. special attention, stress, or emphasis:
an accent on accuracy.
16. a detail that is emphasized by contrasting with its surroundings:
a room decorated in navy blue with two red vases as accents.
17. a distinctive but subordinate pattern, motif, color, flavor, or the like:
The salad dressing had an accent of garlic.
—
v.t.
1. to pronounce with prominence (a syllable within a word or a word within a phrase):
to accent the first syllable of “into”; to accent the first word of “White House.”
2. to mark with a written accent or accents.
3. to give emphasis or prominence to; accentuate.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
