Collins English-English Dictionary

accent

1. 1. n the characteristic mode of pronunciation of a person or group, esp one that betrays social or geographical origin

2. 2. n the relative prominence of a spoken or sung syllable, esp with regard to stress or pitch - Compare pitch stress

3. 3. n a mark (such as ', ", or ) used in writing to indicate the stress or prominence of a syllable. Such a mark may also be used to indicate that a written syllable is to be pronounced, esp when such pronunciation is not usual, as in turnèd

4. 4. n any of various marks or symbols conventionally used in writing certain languages to indicate the quality of a vowel, or for some other purpose, such as differentiation of homographs - See acute grave circumflex

5. 5. n (in some languages, such as Chinese) any of the tones that have phonemic value in distinguishing one word from another - Compare tone

6. 6. n rhythmic stress in verse or prose

7. 7. n [music] stress placed on certain notes in a piece of music, indicated by a symbol printed over the note concerned

8. 8. n the rhythmic pulse of a piece or passage, usually represented as the stress on the first beat of each bar - See also syncopation

9. 9. n [maths] either of two superscript symbols indicating a specific unit, such as feet (), inches (), minutes of arc (), or seconds of arc ()

10. 10. n a distinctive characteristic of anything, such as taste, pattern, style, etc

11. 11. n particular attention or emphasis

    an accent on learning

12. 12. n a strongly contrasting detail

    a blue rug with red accents

13. 13. vt. [tr] to mark with an accent in writing, speech, music, etc

14. 14. vt. to lay particular emphasis or stress on

15. 15. vt. [Etymology] C14: via Old French from Latin accentus, from ad- to + cantus chant, song. The Latin is a rendering of Greek prosoidia a song sung to music, the tone of a syllable