Definition of oxytone in English:
oxytone
adjective ˈɒksɪtəʊnˈɑksəˌtoʊn
(especially in ancient Greek) having an acute accent on the last syllable.
Compare with paroxytone
Example sentencesExamples
- The general rhythm of the language clips seems to show a preference for oxytone words.
- This development was perhaps posterior to the substitution of the pronominal ending in the oxytone neuter o-stems because the latter did not affect the u-stems.
noun ˈɒksɪtəʊnˈɑksəˌtoʊn
A word having an acute accent on the last syllable.
Example sentencesExamples
- Even though they are oxytones, words of one syllable never need an accent, unless the accent is diacritic.
- There are also a good many cases in which the French name ends in a weak e and would produce an oxytone.
- A word bearing the acute upon the ultima is known as an oxytone, one with the acute upon the penult as a paroxytone, one with the acute upon the antepenult as a proparoxytone.
Origin
Mid 18th century: from Greek oxutonos, from oxus 'sharp' + tonos 'tone'.
Definition of oxytone in US English:
oxytone
adjectiveˈɑksəˌtoʊnˈäksəˌtōn
(especially in ancient Greek) having an acute accent on the last syllable.
Example sentencesExamples
- The general rhythm of the language clips seems to show a preference for oxytone words.
- This development was perhaps posterior to the substitution of the pronominal ending in the oxytone neuter o-stems because the latter did not affect the u-stems.
nounˈɑksəˌtoʊnˈäksəˌtōn
A word having an acute accent on the last syllable.
Example sentencesExamples
- Even though they are oxytones, words of one syllable never need an accent, unless the accent is diacritic.
- A word bearing the acute upon the ultima is known as an oxytone, one with the acute upon the penult as a paroxytone, one with the acute upon the antepenult as a proparoxytone.
- There are also a good many cases in which the French name ends in a weak e and would produce an oxytone.
Origin
Mid 18th century: from Greek oxutonos, from oxus ‘sharp’ + tonos ‘tone’.