Library / English Dictionary

ACCENT

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

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

Synonyms:

accent; accent mark

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("accent" is a kind of...):

diacritic; diacritical mark (a mark added to a letter to indicate a special pronunciation)

Domain category:

language; linguistic communication (a systematic means of communicating by the use of sounds or conventional symbols)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "accent"):

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)

Derivation:

accentual (of or pertaining to accent or stress)

accentuate (put stress on; utter with an accent)

Sense 2

Meaning:

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

Example:

he put the stress on the wrong syllable

Synonyms:

accent; emphasis; stress

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("accent" is a kind of...):

inflection; prosody (the patterns of stress and intonation in a language)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "accent"):

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)

Derivation:

accent (put stress on; utter with an accent)

accentual ((of verse) having a metric system based on stress rather than syllables or quantity)

accentual (of or pertaining to accent or stress)

accentuate (put stress on; utter with an accent)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Distinctive manner of oral expression

Example:

she had a very clear speech pattern

Synonyms:

accent; speech pattern

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("accent" is a kind of...):

pronunciation (the manner in which someone utters a word)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "accent"):

drawl (a slow speech pattern with prolonged vowels)

Derivation:

accentuate (put stress on; utter with an accent)

Sense 4

Meaning:

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

Example:

it has been said that a language is a dialect with an army and navy

Synonyms:

accent; dialect; idiom

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("accent" is a kind of...):

non-standard speech (speech that differs from the usual accepted, easily recognizable speech of native adult members of a speech community)

Domain member usage:

forrad; forrard; forward; forwards; frontward; frontwards (at or to or toward the front)

euphonious ((of speech or dialect) pleasing in sound; not harsh or strident)

bang; spang (leap, jerk, bang)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "accent"):

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

eye dialect (the use of misspellings to identify a colloquial or uneducated speaker)

Derivation:

accentuate (put stress on; utter with an accent)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Special importance or significance

Example:

the room was decorated in shades of grey with distinctive red accents

Synonyms:

accent; emphasis

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Hypernyms ("accent" is a kind of...):

grandness; importance (a prominent status)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "accent"):

focus; stress (special emphasis attached to something)

Derivation:

accent; accentuate (to stress, single out as important)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Put stress on; utter with an accent

Example:

In Farsi, you accent the last syllable of each word

Synonyms:

accent; accentuate; stress

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "accent" is one way to...):

articulate; enounce; enunciate; pronounce; say; sound out (speak, pronounce, or utter in a certain way)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

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

Sense 2

Meaning:

To stress, single out as important

Example:

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

Synonyms:

accent; accentuate; emphasise; emphasize; punctuate; stress

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "accent" is one way to...):

evince; express; show (give expression to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "accent"):

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))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE

Derivation:

accent (special importance or significance)

Credits

 Context examples: 

“A smoker, Mr. Holmes?” said he, speaking in well-chosen English, with a curious little mincing accent.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

‘Mr. Hatherley?’ said he, with something of a German accent.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Be calm, my dear ma'am,” said Mr. Chillip, in his softest accents.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

And now the call came to Buck in unmistakable accents.

(The Call of the Wild, by Jack London)

“My name is Johnson, not Yonson,” he said, in very good, though slow, English, with no more than a shade of accent to it.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Her arm was pressed again, as he added, in a more broken and subdued accent, “The feelings of the warmest friendship—Indignation—Abominable scoundrel!”

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Some one was talking there in a very loud accent; he did not know the voice—more than talking—almost hallooing.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

He spoke good English, sir, and yet I thought he was a foreigner by his accent.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

He was the usual cut and dry apothecary, of no particular age and colour, with a strong Edinburgh accent and about as emotional as a bagpipe.

(The Strange Case Of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

"They will be brought up," said he, in a serious accent, "to be as unlike myself as is possible. In feeling, in action, in condition, in every thing."

(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)