| 释义 |
ac·cent
I. \ˈakˌsent, Brit usually -_sənt\ noun
(-s)
Etymology: Middle French, from Latin accentus (translation of Greek prosōidia), from ad- + -centus (from cantus song, from cantus, past participle of canere to sing) — more at chant, prosody
1. : a distinctive manner of usually oral expression: as
a. : the inflection, tone, or choice of words associated with a particular situation, event, emotion, or attitude or taken to be unique in or highly characteristic of an individual — usually used in plural
< the authoritative accents of a ruling class — Time >
< I knew Heathcliff's accents — Emily Brontë >
b. : speech habits typical of the natives or residents of a region or of any other group (as social, professional, or business)
< a heavy foreign accent >
< a southern accent >
< the staccato accent of a circus barker >
2.
a. : an articulative effort (as an increase of stress or a change of pitch) giving prominence to one syllable of a word or group of words over adjacent syllables
b. : the prominence given a syllable through the use of accent
3. : rhythmically significant stress on the syllables of a verse usually at approximately regular intervals : ictus
4. archaic : a word or group of words : utterance
5.
a. : a mark (as ´, `, ˆ) used in writing or printing to indicate a specific sound value, stress, or pitch, to distinguish words otherwise identically spelled, or to indicate that an ordinarily mute vowel should be pronounced; broadly : any mark, point, or sign used with a letter whether functional or not — see acute, circumflex, grave; compare diacritic
b. : a letter with a diacritical mark (as é, ç, ä, ñ) — a printers' term; compare piece accent
c. : a letter not used in the ordinary alphabet — a printers' term
6.
a. : greater stress or emphasis given to one musical tone than to its neighbors
b. : the principle of regularly recurring stresses which serve to distribute a succession of pulses into equal groups or measures — called also grammatical accent
c. : special emphasis placed exceptionally upon tones not subject to grammatical accent — called also rhetorical accent
d. : the rhythmical principle of grammatical accent operating over such longer spans of time as to mark alternate strong and weak measures or phrase relationships — called also rhythmical accent
e. : accent mark 2
7.
a. : emphasis laid on a part of an artistic design or composition
b. : a detail or area emphasized : a striking detail; especially : a small detail in sharp contrast with its surroundings (as in color or texture)
c. : a substance or object used for emphasis
< a plant used for accent in a landscape design >
8. : a mark placed to the right of a letter or number and usually slightly above it:
a. : a mark used singly with letters to distinguish either different mathematical variables (as x and x′) or singly, doubly, and triply to distinguish different values of the same variable (as y′ and y″) — compare double prime, prime
b. : a mark used singly with numbers to denote minutes and doubly to denote seconds of time (as a 4′3″ interval) or to denote minutes and seconds of an angle or arc
c. : a mark used singly with numbers to denote feet and doubly to denote inches (as 6′3″ tall)
9. : any distinguishing characteristic or individualizing stamp
< his peculiar accent of wistful naïveté — Edmund Wilson >
10. : attribution of special importance : special concern or attention : emphasis — usually used with on
< the accent on air power in the defense program >
II. \ˈakˌsent, ̷ ̷ˈ ̷ ̷\ transitive verb
(-ed/-ing/-s)
Etymology: Middle French accenter, from accent, n.
1.
a. : to utter (as a syllable) with accent : stress
< accenting the first syllable of each word he spoke >
b. : to mark with a written or printed accent
< each word of the list was neatly accented with a typed stress mark >
2. archaic : to give voice to : articulate, utter, speak
< sounds accented by a thousand voices — Sir Walter Scott >
3.
a. : to give prominence to or increase the prominence of : make more emphatic, noticeable, or distinct
< columns accent the vertical lines of the building >
: heighten in effect (as by contrast) : bring out : set off
< a background of mountains accents the quiet beauty of the landscape >
: increase in degree : intensify, sharpen
< hostility that was accented by inbred antagonism >
b. : to make of special interest or concern : give special attention to : emphasize
< a defense program accents air power >
< accents the practical utility of science — Frank Thilly > |