Definitions for accent
ˈæk sɛnt; ækˈsɛntac·cent

Princeton's WordNet(2.67 / 6 votes)Rate this definition:

1. accent, speech pattern(noun)

   distinctive manner of oral expression

   "he couldn't suppress his contemptuous accent"; "she had a very clear speech pattern"

2. emphasis, accent(noun)

   special importance or significance

   "the red light gave the central figure increased emphasis"; "the room was decorated in shades of grey with distinctive red accents"

3. dialect, idiom, accent(noun)

   the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific group of people

   "the immigrants spoke an odd dialect of English"; "he has a strong German accent"; "it has been said that a language is a dialect with an army and navy"

4. stress, emphasis, accent(noun)

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

   "he put the stress on the wrong syllable"

5. accent, accent mark(verb)

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

6. stress, emphasize, emphasise, punctuate, accent, accentuate(verb)

   to stress, single out as important

   "Dr. Jones emphasizes exercise in addition to a change in diet"

7. stress, accent, accentuate(verb)

   put stress on; utter with an accent

   "In Farsi, you accent the last syllable of each word"

Webster Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Accent(noun)

   a superior force of voice or of articulative effort upon some particular syllable of a word or a phrase, distinguishing it from the others

   Etymology: [OF. accenter, F. accentuer.]

2. Accent(noun)

   a mark or character used in writing, and serving to regulate the pronunciation; esp.: (a) a mark to indicate the nature and place of the spoken accent; (b) a mark to indicate the quality of sound of the vowel marked; as, the French accents

   Etymology: [OF. accenter, F. accentuer.]

3. Accent(noun)

   modulation of the voice in speaking; manner of speaking or pronouncing; peculiar or characteristic modification of the voice; tone; as, a foreign accent; a French or a German accent

   Etymology: [OF. accenter, F. accentuer.]

4. Accent(noun)

   a word; a significant tone

   Etymology: [OF. accenter, F. accentuer.]

5. Accent(noun)

   expressions in general; speech

   Etymology: [OF. accenter, F. accentuer.]

6. Accent(noun)

   stress laid on certain syllables of a verse

   Etymology: [OF. accenter, F. accentuer.]

7. Accent(noun)

   a regularly recurring stress upon the tone to mark the beginning, and, more feebly, the third part of the measure

   Etymology: [OF. accenter, F. accentuer.]

8. Accent(noun)

   a special emphasis of a tone, even in the weaker part of the measure

   Etymology: [OF. accenter, F. accentuer.]

9. Accent(noun)

   the rhythmical accent, which marks phrases and sections of a period

   Etymology: [OF. accenter, F. accentuer.]

10. Accent(noun)

    the expressive emphasis and shading of a passage

    Etymology: [OF. accenter, F. accentuer.]

11. Accent(noun)

    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''

    Etymology: [OF. accenter, F. accentuer.]

12. Accent(noun)

    a mark at the right hand of a number, indicating minutes of a degree, seconds, etc.; as, 12'27'', i. e., twelve minutes twenty seven seconds

    Etymology: [OF. accenter, F. accentuer.]

13. Accent(noun)

    a mark used to denote feet and inches; as, 6' 10'' is six feet ten inches

    Etymology: [OF. accenter, F. accentuer.]

14. Accent(verb)

    to express the accent of (either by the voice or by a mark); to utter or to mark with accent

    Etymology: [OF. accenter, F. accentuer.]

15. Accent(verb)

    to mark emphatically; to emphasize

    Etymology: [OF. accenter, F. accentuer.]

Freebase(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Accent

   In sociolinguistics, an accent is a manner of pronunciation peculiar to a particular individual, location, or nation. An accent may identify the locality in which its speakers reside, the socio-economic status of its speakers, their ethnicity, their caste or social class, their first language, and so on. Accents typically differ in quality of the voice, pronunciation and distinction of vowels and consonants, stress, and prosody. Although grammar, semantics, vocabulary, and other language characteristics often vary concurrently with accent, the word 'accent' may refer specifically to the differences in pronunciation, whereas the word 'dialect' encompasses the broader set of linguistic differences. Often 'accent' is a subset of 'dialect'.

Chambers 20th Century Dictionary(0.00 / 0 votes)Rate this definition:

1. Accent

   ak′sent, n. modulation of the voice: stress on a syllable or word: a mark used to direct this stress: any mode of utterance peculiar to a country, a province, or an individual: (poet.) a significant word, or words generally: (pl.) speech, language.—v.t. Accent′, to express or note the accent.—adj. Accent′ual, relating to accent.—n. Accentual′ity.—adv. Accent′ually.—v.t. Accent′uate, to mark or pronounce with accent: to make prominent.—n. Accentuā′tion, the act of marking or of pronouncing accents. [Fr.—L. accentus, a tone or note—ad, to, canĕre, to sing.]

British National Corpus

1. Written Corpus Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'accent' in Written Corpus Frequency: #2960

2. Nouns Frequency

   Rank popularity for the word 'accent' in Nouns Frequency: #1966

How to pronounce accent?

1. 

   Alex

   US English

   

   Daniel

   British

   

   Karen

   Australian

   

   Veena

   Indian

How to say accent in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of accent in Chaldean Numerology is: 3

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of accent in Pythagorean Numerology is: 1

Examples of accent in a Sentence

1. François de La Rochefoucauld:

   The accent of one's birthplace remains in the mind and in the heart as in one's speech.

2. Michelle Lee Flores:

   In the event that a costume complaint arises, a company has a tremendous opportunity to make it better quickly … or far worse, say a white person dressed as the convenience store clerk from ‘ The Simpsons ’ and was speaking in an Indian accent all day. A fellow coworker goes to HR and says she feels uncomfortable. If that person is quickly dismissed... that employee is likely to feel even angrier and who knows what could happen.

3. Marlen Ochoa-Lopez:

   And the city of Chicago needs to awaken itself, if there is a place where you are not respected because of your accent, instead of your intelligence, don't accept it.

4. Christi Parsons:

   Her political humor is sly and edgy, and it comes with a Chicago accent.

5. Jeb Bush:

   If we embrace a set of shared values, then it shouldn't matter if you have a 'z' at the end of your name, or your accent might be different, 'cause guess what? There are people in this country, that have accents different from mine and mine's different from theirs. It doesn't matter.

Images & Illustrations of accent

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