accent
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: enpr: ăkʹsənt
enpr: ăkʹsĕnt
ipa: /ˈak.sənt/
ipa: /-sɛnt/
enpr: ăkʹsĕnt
ipa: /ˈæk.sɛnt/
ipa: /ˈæk.sɛnt/
ipa: /-sənt/
ipa: /ˈɛk.sent/
ipa: /-sənt/
rhymes: -æksɛnt
Forms: form: accents
Etymology: From Middle English accent, from Medieval Latin accentus and Old French accent, acent, both from Latin accentus, past participle of accinō (“sing to, sing along”). The word accent had been borrowed into Old English already, but was lost and reborrowed in Middle English.
Senses: examples: text: In the word "careful", the accent is placed on the first syllable.
topics: human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
synonyms: stress
glosses: A higher-pitched or stronger (louder or longer) articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to emphasize it.
examples: text: At this hotel, the accent is on luxury.
glosses: Emphasis or importance in general.
examples: text: The name Cézanne is written with an acute accent.
text: California, like several other states, prohibits the use of diacritical marks or accents on official documents. That means no tilde (~), no accent grave (`), no umlaut (¨) and certainly no cedilla (¸).
ref: 2015 April 11, Tovin Lapan, “California birth certificates and accents: O’Connor alright, Ramón and José is not”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 04 Apr 2025:
topics: communications
journalism
literature
media
orthography
publishing
writing
glosses: A mark or character used in writing, in order to indicate the place of the spoken accent, or to indicate the nature or quality of the vowel marked.
examples: text: I know, sir, I am no flatterer: he that beguiled you in a plain accent was a plain knave; which for my part I will not be, though I should win your displeasure to entreat me to 't.
ref: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act II, scene ii]:
text: The tender Accent of a Woman's Cry / Will pass unheard, will unregarded die;
ref: 1696, Matthew Prior, “From Celia to Damon”, in Poems on Several Occasions:
text: And he repeated her words with such assurance of accent, such boastful pretence of amazement, that she could not help replying with quickness …
ref: 1815, Jane Austen, Emma, volume I, chapter 15:
text: Edmund White, John Mitzel, and David Goodstein, among others, have taken pains to distinguish two kinds of "liberation" envisioned by the members of our recently emerged movement: assimilation into the body politic — or a total restructuring of the sex-role system. The second path amounts to revolutionary subversion, but we hear little about it here, except in the accents of reproach: to the idea that gay people might be "pioneers in the area of relationship" and that "our greatest offering to civilization is the beauty of sexual freedom," McNaught responds: "Bunk!"
ref: 1981 December 27, Rudy Kikel, “Still Angry, After All These Years”, in Gay Community News, volume 9, number 23, page 10:
glosses: Modulation of the voice in speaking; the manner of speaking or pronouncing; a peculiar or characteristic modification of the voice, expressing emotion; tone.
examples: text: a foreign accent
text: a broad Irish accent
text: a hint of a German accent
text: a thick French accent
topics: human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
social-science
sociolinguistics
sociology
glosses: The distinctive manner of pronouncing a language associated with a particular region, social group, etc., whether of a native speaker or a foreign speaker; the phonetic and phonological aspects of a dialect.
examples: text: My professor's accent is so thick that it's difficult to understand her lectures.
text: She spoke with a strong accent that betrayed her southern roots.
text: I was surprised to learn that he was an immigrant, as he spoke without any accent.
text: They were all Middle Eastern types but spoke French without any accent.
ref: 2015 November 14, Adam Gopnik, quoting Célia, “Terror Strikes in Paris”, in The New Yorker, archived from the original on 19 Dec 2022:
text: Growing up in the Rhondda and having a strong accent was never a problem for me and my voice never really stood out from the crowd.
ref: 2016 June 8, Tyler Mears, “I used to hide my Valleys accent in case people thought I was less intelligent - which was completely stupid”, in WalesOnline, archived from the original on 10 Jan 2023:
text: It's really hard to get in an audition room when you have an accent. Rather than being treated as the other people, you are falling into a category of foreigners who can't really maintain the role.
ref: 2018 January 24, Lakshine Sathiyanathan, Lisa Xing, quoting Mariya Miloshevych, “Why some people try to chip away at their accent”, in CBC News, archived from the original on 09 Dec 2022:
text: Why go to the effort of writing in a character with an Indian name played by an Indian actor whose main personality trait is that he is stupid and has an accent?
ref: 2020 December 30, Christi Carras, quoting Rishi Maharaj, “'Schitt's Creek' star Rizwan Manji defends his character's Indian accent”, in Los Angeles Times, archived from the original on 09 Dec 2022:
text: But over the years, even after perfecting "accent-less" English, graduating from college, getting a job at Goldman Sachs, and becoming an American citizen, Arce still felt like she didn't belong.
ref: 2022 March 22, Elise Hu, Jinae West, Jordana Hochman, Andrea Gutierrez, “Rejecting assimilation in 'You Sound Like a White Girl'”, in NPR, archived from the original on 09 Dec 2022:
topics: human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
social-science
sociolinguistics
sociology
glosses: The distinctive manner of pronouncing a language associated with a particular region, social group, etc., whether of a native speaker or a foreign speaker; the phonetic and phonological aspects of a dialect.
A manner of pronunciation suggesting that the speaker is from a different region; a foreign accent.
examples: text: I believe I still retain some of my hearing accent when I use American Sign Language.
ref: 2008, Jeremy Linn Brunson, The Practice and Organization of Sign Language, page 76:
text: Cheesesteaks, Peanut Chews, Tastykakes, oh yeah, the Liberty Bell — there's so much to love about Philadelphia, but one of the best things about the city of Brotherly Love is the accent. We're not talking about spoken English — we're talking about American Sign Language.
ref: 2015 November 5, Nina Porzucki, The World, archived from the original on 07 Dec 2022:
topics: human-sciences
linguistics
sciences
social-science
sociolinguistics
sociology
glosses: The distinctive manner of pronouncing a language associated with a particular region, social group, etc., whether of a native speaker or a foreign speaker; the phonetic and phonological aspects of a dialect.
A distinctive manner of producing a sign language, such as someone who does not normally use a certain sign language might have when using it.
qualifier: sign languages
examples: text: I heard my landlady's accents attuned to nervous civility, mingling with the mellow tones of a deep masculine voice,
ref: 1895, Marie Corelli, The Sorrows of Satan: or The Strange Experience of One Geoffrey Tempest, Millionaire […], 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: J[oshua] B[allinger] Lippincott Company, published 1896, →OCLC, page 20:
glosses: A word; a significant tone or sound.
examples: text: Winds! on your wings to Heaven her accents bear, / Such words as Heaven alone is fit to hear.
ref: 1697, Virgil, “Pastoral 3”, in John Dryden, transl., The Works of Virgil: Containing His Pastorals, Georgics, and Æneis. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
glosses: Expressions in general; speech.
topics: communications
human-sciences
journalism
linguistics
literature
media
phonology
poetry
prosody
publishing
sciences
writing
glosses: Stress laid on certain syllables of a verse.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: A regularly recurring stress upon the tone to mark the beginning, and, more feebly, the third part of the measure.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: A special emphasis of a tone, even in the weaker part of the measure.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: A mark used to represent this special emphasis.
topics: entertainment
lifestyle
music
glosses: The rhythmical accent, which marks phrases and sections of a period.
topics: mathematics
sciences
glosses: A prime symbol.
examples: text: accent color
glosses: Emphasis laid on a part of an artistic design or composition; an emphasized detail, in particular a detail in sharp contrast to its surroundings.
glosses: A very small gemstone set into a piece of jewellery.
glosses: Utterance.
Derived terms: accent acute
accent diamond
accentism
accentless
accent mark
accentologist
accentology
accentor
accent tag
accent wall
accent-wise
acute accent
blaccent
circumflex accent
deaccent
diamond accent
fagcent
foreign accent syndrome
grave accent
gravo-acute accent
misaccent
nonaccent
overaccent
primary accent
reaccent
secondary accent
tonic accent
unaccent
Related terms: circumflex
diacritic