Definition
verbTo pronounce with an accent or vocal stress.
verbTo bring out distinctly; to make more noticeable or prominent; to emphasize.
Sentence Examples
Make-up can accentuate your cheekbones.
Carmela's high cheekbones accentuate her facial structure, enhancing her natural beauty.
Word Origin & History
Etymology tree
Proto-Indo-European *h₂éd
Proto-Italic *ad
Proto-Italic *ad-
Latin ad-
Proto-Indo-European *keh₂n-der.
Proto-Italic *kanō
Latin canō
Latin accinō
Proto-Indo-European *-tus
Proto-Italic *-tus
Latin -tus
▲
Ancient Greek προσῳδῐ́ᾱ (prosōidĭ́ā)calq.
Latin accentus
Proto-Indo-European *-h₂
Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂
Proto-Indo-European *-yéti
Proto-Indo-European *-eh₂yéti
Proto-Italic *-āō
Latin -ō
Latin accentuō
Medieval Latin accentuātusbor.
English accentuate
First attested in 1731; borrowed from Medieval Latin accentuātus, perfect passive participle of accentuō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from Latin accentus. accent + -u- + -ate.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"our danger and insolation only accentuated the incompatibility"
— 1898, H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds/Book 2/Chapter 3:
"These were business hours, and a feeling of loneliness crept over him, perhaps germinated by his sight of the illustrated papers, and accentuated by an attempted perusal of them."
— 1913, Robert Barr, chapter 5, in Lord Stranleigh Abroad:
"Attempts by Waterloo signalmen to clear the points by power operation eventually exhausted point motor batteries, which are fed by trickle chargers, and a blown fuse accentuated the problem; thus, even when the points had been cleared of ice, no power was available to operate them until the batteries were sufficiently recharged."
— 1962 March 26, “The New Year Freeze-up on British Railways”, in Modern Railways, page 159:
"Several digital effects are supported by Deck, ranging from a digital equalizer, which lets you accentuate or attenuate certain frequencies, to a stereoizer, which processes a mono- phonic recording to simulate stereo."
— 1991, Macworld, volume 8, PC World Communications:
"Eating meat does not conform to God's original intention, and resorting to carnivorism merely accentuates an unattractive part of human nature."
— 2004, Mark H Bernstein, Without A Tear, University of Illinois, published 2004, page 67: