Accenting

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Giving extra stress or prominence to a particular sound or syllable in speech ; placing a diacritical mark above a letter to indicate pronunciation or stress in writing
2. Highlighting a specific part of a word when speaking to change its meaning or clarity ; marking a letter with a symbol to show how it should be pronounced or stressed
3. Focusing attention on a certain syllable to affect an utterance's rhythm or meaning ; applying a written sign that guides pronunciation or intonation of a letter

Etymology: Ancient Greek grammarians used "prosōidia," literally "song added to speech," for the pitch that falls on certain syllables of a word. When Roman scholars translated the idea, they chose "accentus," built from "ad" ("to") and "canere" ("to sing"), so the original sense was singing along with, or adding a melody to, speech. The Latin verb "accinere," "to sing to," gave the past participle that became the noun. The word reached English through Old French and Medieval Latin, and it was borrowed into Old English before being lost and borrowed again in Middle English. It displaced the native Old English word "swēġ," meaning sound or noise. Its verb form, "to accent" or "to accenting," came from the French "accenter," which was itself based on the Latin "accentō." In English, the verb has moved from the musical pitch of speech to the stress placed on a syllable, and then to the written marks that show those features.

Synonyms: emphasizing, highlighting

Antonyms: downplaying