4  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Accent  \Ac"cent`\,  n.  [F.  accent,  L.  accentus  ad  +  cantus  a 
  singing,  canere  to  sing.  See  {Cant}.] 
  1.  A  superior  force  of  voice  or  of  articulative  effort  upon 
  some  particular  syllable  of  a  word  or  a  phrase, 
  distinguishing  it  from  the  others 
 
  Note:  Many  English  words  have  two  accents,  the  primary  and 
  the  secondary;  the  primary  being  uttered  with  a  greater 
  stress  of  voice  than  the  secondary;  as  in  as'pira"tion, 
  where  the  chief  stress  is  on  the  third  syllable,  and  a 
  slighter  stress  on  the  first  Some  words  as 
  an'tiap'o-plec"tic,  in-com'pre-hen'si-bil"i-ty,  have 
  two  secondary  accents.  See  Guide  to  Pron.,  [th][th] 
  30-46. 
 
  2.  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. 
 
  Note:  In  the  ancient  Greek  the  acute  accent  (')  meant  a 
  raised  tone  or  pitch,  the  grave  (`),  the  level  tone  or 
  simply  the  negation  of  accent,  the  circumflex  (  ~  or  ^) 
  a  tone  raised  and  then  depressed.  In  works  on 
  elocution,  the  first  is  often  used  to  denote  the  rising 
  inflection  of  the  voice;  the  second  the  falling 
  inflection;  and  the  third  (^),  the  compound  or  waving 
  inflection.  In  dictionaries,  spelling  books,  and  the 
  like  the  acute  accent  is  used  to  designate  the 
  syllable  which  receives  the  chief  stress  of  voice. 
 
  3.  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.  ``Beguiled  you  in  a  plain  accent.''  --Shak. 
  ``A  perfect  accent.''  --Thackeray. 
 
  The  tender  accent  of  a  woman's  cry.  --Prior. 
 
  4.  A  word  a  significant  tone;  (pl.)  expressions  in  general; 
  speech. 
 
  Winds!  on  your  wings  to  Heaven  her  accents  bear, 
  Such  words  as  Heaven  alone  is  fit  to  hear.  --Dryden. 
 
  5.  (Pros.)  Stress  laid  on  certain  syllables  of  a  verse. 
 
  6.  (Mus.) 
  a  A  regularly  recurring  stress  upon  the  tone  to  mark  the 
  beginning,  and  more  feebly,  the  third  part  of  the 
  measure. 
  b  A  special  emphasis  of  a  tone,  even  in  the  weaker  part 
  of  the  measure. 
  c  The  rhythmical  accent,  which  marks  phrases  and 
  sections  of  a  period. 
  d  The  expressive  emphasis  and  shading  of  a  passage.  --J. 
  S.  Dwight. 
 
  7.  (Math.) 
  a  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[sec]. 
  b  (Trigon.)  A  mark  at  the  right  hand  of  a  number, 
  indicating  minutes  of  a  degree,  seconds,  etc.;  as 
  12'27[sec],  i.  e.,  twelve  minutes  twenty  seven 
  seconds. 
  c  (Engin.)  A  mark  used  to  denote  feet  and  inches;  as  6' 
  10[sec]  is  six  feet  ten  inches. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Accent  \Ac*cent"\,  v.  t.  [imp.  &  p.  p.  {Accented};  p.  pr  &  vb 
  n.  {Accenting}.]  [OF.  accenter,  F.  accentuer.] 
  1.  To  express  the  accent  of  (either  by  the  voice  or  by  a 
  mark);  to  utter  or  to  mark  with  accent. 
 
  2.  To  mark  emphatically;  to  emphasize. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  accent 
  n  1:  distinctive  manner  of  oral  expression;  "he  couldn't  suppress 
  his  contemptuous  accent";  "she  had  a  very  clear  speech 
  pattern"  [syn:  {speech  pattern}] 
  2:  special  importance  or  significance;  "the  red  light  gave  the 
  central  figure  increased  emphasis";  "the  room  was 
  decorated  in  shades  of  gray  with  distinctive  red  accents" 
  [syn:  {emphasis}] 
  3:  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"  [syn:  {dialect}, 
  {idiom}] 
  4:  the  relative  prominence  of  a  syllable  (especially  with 
  regard  to  stress  or  pitch);  "he  put  the  stress  on  the 
  wrong  syllable"  [syn:  {stress},  {emphasis},  {accentuation}] 
  5:  a  diacritical  mark  used  to  indicate  stress  or  (in  some 
  languages)  placed  above  a  vowel  to  indicate  a  special 
  pronunciation  [syn:  {accent  mark}] 
  v  1:  direct  attention  to  as  if  by  means  of  contrast;  "This  dress 
  accentuates  your  nice  figure!"  "I  set  off  these  words  by 
  brackets"  [syn:  {emphasize},  {stress},  {bring  out},  {accentuate}, 
  {set  off}]  [ant:  {deemphasize}] 
  2:  to  stress,  single  out  as  important:  "Dr.  Jones  emphasizes 
  exercise  in  addition  to  a  change  in  diet."  [syn:  {stress}, 
  {emphasize},  {punctuate},  {accentuate}] 
  3:  put  stress  on  utter  with  an  accent  [syn:  {stress}] 
 
  From  The  Free  On-line  Dictionary  of  Computing  (13  Mar  01)  [foldoc]: 
 
  Accent 
 
    A  very  high  level  interpreted  language  from 
  {CaseWare,  Inc.}  with  strings  and  tables.  It  is  {strongly 
  typed}  and  has  remote  function  calls. 
 
  (1994-11-08) 
 
 

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