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

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

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

4. Accent(noun)

   a word; a significant tone

5. Accent(noun)

   expressions in general; speech

6. Accent(noun)

   stress laid on certain syllables of a verse

7. Accent(noun)

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

8. Accent(noun)

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

9. Accent(noun)

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

10. Accent(noun)

    the expressive emphasis and shading of a passage

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''

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

13. Accent(noun)

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

14. Accent(verb)

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

15. Accent(verb)

    to mark emphatically; to emphasize

Origin: [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

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. Heinrich Heine:

   Since the Exodus, freedom has always spoken with a Hebrew accent.

2. Jean Jacques Rousseau:

   Accent is the soul of language it gives to it both feeling and truth.

3. Christi Parsons:

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

4. François de La Rochefoucauld:

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

5. Sarah Shepherd:

   We're one of the few countries in the world that has an acrolect -- an accent of the elite.

Images & Illustrations of accent

Popularity rank by frequency of use