Deaccentuate

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To take away the stress or prominence normally given to a syllable or word when it is spoken
2. To reduce the emphasis placed on a particular syllable so that it is pronounced more weakly
3. Removing the accent or stress from a spoken syllable so that it sounds less prominent than usual

Etymology: The Greek grammarians who first described word stress called the rise in pitch on a syllable "prosōidia," meaning "song added to speech." The Latin translation, "accentus," was built from "ad," meaning "to," and "cantus," meaning "song," so an accent was literally something sung to a syllable. English took the stress sense, which is why "accent" still covers both a spoken emphasis and a regional way of speaking. "Accentuate" comes from the Medieval Latin verb "accentuare," which means to put an accent on something. In English the word came to mean making something more prominent, whether a syllable, a feature, or a point in an argument. "Deaccentuate" is simply "accentuate" with the reversing prefix "de-," the same prefix found in "decaffeinate" or "deforest." It means removing or reducing that emphasis, and it was formed by adding the prefix to an existing word rather than borrowed from another language.

Synonyms: downplay, understate, minimize, de-emphasize, play down

Antonyms: accentuate, emphasize, stress, highlight, underline