Online English Dictionary

1. distinctive manner of oral expression; "he couldn′t suppress his contemptuous accent"; "she had a very clear speech pattern"

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

1. to stress, single out as important; "Dr. Jones emphasizes exercise in addition to a change in diet"

2. put stress on; utter with an accent; "In Farsi, you accent the last syllable of each word"

This software and database is provided "as is" and Princeton University makes no representations or warranties, express or implied. by way of example, but not limitation, Princeton University makes no representations or warranties of merchant - ability or fitness for any particular purpose or that the use of the licensed software, database or documentation will not infringe any third party patents, copyrights, trademarks or other rights.