Oxytonical

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Marked by stress or accent falling on the last syllable of a word
2. Characterized by the primary stress being placed on the final syllable rather than an earlier one
3. Describing a word in which the final syllable bears the main stress or emphasis

Etymology: "Oxytonical" is the adjective built on "oxytone," a term for a word stressed on its final syllable. The base comes from Greek "oxytonos," from "oxys," meaning "sharp" or "high-pitched," and "tonos," meaning "tone" or "stress." In ancient Greek grammar, the accent mark on a final syllable was described as sharp, which is where the word gets its "oxy-" element, the same root that appears in "oxygen," a much later coinage. The adjective simply adds the English suffix "-ical" to "oxytone," so it means relating to or having the characteristics of an oxytone. Like other "-ical" adjectives formed from Greek-derived nouns, it is a learned, technical formation used mainly in linguistics and the study of prosody, and it is rarely found outside specialist writing.