Definitions for accent
ˈæk sɛnt; ækˈsɛntac·cent

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

1. accent, speech patternnoun

   distinctive manner of oral expression

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

2. emphasis, accentnoun

   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, accentnoun

   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, accentnoun

   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 markverb

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

6. stress, emphasize, emphasise, punctuate, accent, accentuateverb

   to stress, single out as important

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

7. stress, accent, accentuateverb

   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. Accentnoun

   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. Accentnoun

   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. Accentnoun

   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. Accentnoun

   a word; a significant tone

5. Accentnoun

   expressions in general; speech

6. Accentnoun

   stress laid on certain syllables of a verse

7. Accentnoun

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

8. Accentnoun

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

9. Accentnoun

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

10. Accentnoun

    the expressive emphasis and shading of a passage

11. Accentnoun

    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. Accentnoun

    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. Accentnoun

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

14. Accentverb

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

15. Accentverb

    to mark emphatically; to emphasize

16. 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.]

Matched Categories

1. • Importance
   • Pronounce
   • Prosody

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

   David

   US English

   Mark

   US English

   Daniel

   British

   Libby

   British

   Mia

   British

   Karen

   Australian

   Hayley

   Australian

   Natasha

   Australian

   Veena

   Indian

   Priya

   Indian

   Neerja

   Indian

   Zira

   US English

   Oliver

   British

   Wendy

   British

   Fred

   US English

   Tessa

   South African

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. Sarah Shepherd:

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

2. David Dean Rusk:

   Let me say with a Georgia accent that we cannot solve this problem if it requires a diplomatic passport to claim the rights of an American citizen.

3. Anuj Somany:

   A black crow does not become a white dove by putting on its body the same color dress or paint; Similarly, a self-indulgent wearing any colour of devout outfit and giving a sermon in a soft, seamless and sweet accent to a large number of selfish disciples does not become a spiritual master or saint.

4. Salma Hayek:

   We were talking on the phone and she was already Patrizia, her accent was perfect.

5. Vasilii Semenovich Pankratov:

   Alexandra Fedorovna pronounced Russian words with a heavy accent, and it was noticebale that speaking Russian was hard for her ...[she] pronounced each phrase with difficulty, and with a German accent — just like a foreigner who had learned the Russian language from books, and not from practice.

Popularity rank by frequency of use