<p><strong>Noun</strong></p><ul><li>prominence of a syllable in terms of differential loudness, or of pitch, or length, or of a combination of these</li><li>degree of prominence of a syllable within a word and sometimes of a word within a phrase: primary accent; secondary accent</li><li>a mark indicating stress (as (ˈ, ˌ), or (′, ″)), vowel quality (as French grave `, acute ´, circumflex ^), form (as French la “the” versus là “there”), or pitch</li><li>any similar mark</li><li>regularly recurring stress</li><li>a mark indicating stress or some other distinction in pronunciation or value</li><li>a musical tone or pattern of pitch inherent in a particular language either as a feature essential to the identification of a vowel or a syllable or to the general acoustic character of the language</li><li>the unique speech patterns, inflections, choice of words, etc., that identify a particular individual: We recognized his accents immediately</li><li>the distinctive style or tone characteristic of an author, composer, etc.: the unmistakably Brahmsian accents of the sonata</li><li>a mode of pronunciation, as pitch or tone, emphasis pattern, or intonation, characteristic of or peculiar to the speech of a particular person, group, or locality: French accent; Southern accent</li><li>such a mode of pronunciation recognized as being of foreign origin: He still speaks with an accent</li><li>a stress or emphasis given to certain notes</li><li>a mark noting this stress or emphasis</li><li>stress or emphasis regularly recurring as a feature of rhythm</li><li>a symbol used to distinguish similar quantities that differ in value, as in b′, b″, b‴ (called b prime, b second or b double prime, b third or b triple prime, respectively)</li><li>a symbol used to indicate a particular unit of measure, as feet (′) or inches (″), minutes (′) or seconds (″)</li><li>a symbol used to indicate the order of a derivative of a function in calculus, as f′ (called f prime) is the first derivative of a function f</li><li>words or tones expressive of some emotion</li><li>distinctive character or tone: an accent of whining complaint</li><li>special attention, stress, or emphasis: an accent on accuracy</li><li>a detail that is emphasized by contrasting with its surroundings: a room decorated in navy blue with two red vases as accents</li><li>a distinctive but subordinate pattern, motif, color, flavor, or the like: The salad dressing had an accent of garlic</li></ul><p><strong>Verb (used with object)</strong></p><ul><li>to pronounce with prominence (a syllable within a word or a word within a phrase): Compare stress (def 12)</li><li>to accent the first syllable of “into”; to accent the first word of “White House”</li><li>to mark with a written accent or accents</li><li>to give emphasis or prominence to; accentuate</li></ul>