accentuatev.
/əkˈsɛn(t)ʃʊeɪt/, /akˈsɛn(t)ʃʊeɪt/, /əkˈsɛntjʊeɪt/, /akˈsɛntjʊeɪt/, U.S. /ækˈsɛn(t)ʃəˌweɪt/, /əkˈsɛn(t)ʃəˌweɪt/ 1. transitive. To pronounce, say, or distinguish audibly with accent or stress; to place stress on; = accent v. 1b.Often coloured by sense 3; accent tends to be preferred in technical use.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > language > linguistics > study of speech sound > speech sound > intonation, pitch, or stress > [verb (transitive)] > pronounce with accent
accent1589
accinate1652
accentuate?1719
?1719 M. Davies Grammar-Post No. 1. 1 in Athenæ Britannicæ IV How first to accentuate or sound the Words, and then to understand them, or render the true Meaning.
1731 N. Bailey Universal Etymol. Eng. Dict. (ed. 5) Accentuate, to pronounce in reading or speaking according to the accent.
1776 C. Burney Gen. Hist. Music I. i. vi. 84 Even the simplest and plainest rules of giving a short note to a short syllable, and a long to a long; and of accentuating the music by the measure and natural cadence of the verse..are but too frequently neglected.
1816 European Mag. & London Rev. June 536/2 The measure in each bar is always strongly accentuated.
1827 J. C. Hare & A. W. Hare Guesses at Truth II. 212 They [sc. the French] never accentuate their words or their feelings: all is in the same key; a cap is charmant, so is Raphael's Transfiguration.
1880 Paper & Printing Trades Journ. xxx. 7 You will find that he accentuates his words..quite naturally.
1911 E. Newman tr. A. Schweitzer J. S. Bach I. xvi. 370 The Bach staccato..is not so much a key pizzicato as the short and heavy stroke of a bow. Its effect is therefore to accentuate the note rather than to lighten it.
1920 T. Marcone tr. G. Giacosa Rights of Soul in F. Shay & P. Loving Fifty Contemp. One-act Plays 208/1 (stage direct.) Paolo takes a letter from the wallet, reads it attentively, accentuating the words.
1954 D. N. Ferguson Masterwks. Orchestral Repertoire 279 The theme..has a curious propensity to accentuate the ‘up-beat’ of the phrase, and this gives to the tune a kind of marching sway.
2009 J. Rubens OverSuccess iv. 101 Burt and Jennifer Alper selected the name Becket for their son. ‘That C-K sound is very well regarded in corporate circles. The hard stop forces you to accentuate the syllable in a way that draws attention to it.’
2. transitive. To mark with a written, printed, or keyed accent; = accent v. 4.
ΚΠ
a1732 [implied in: T. Boston Mem. (1776) x. 316 What a trifle my digging up gold in some mine I might have fallen upon in Peru or elsewhere, would have been, in comparison of this, which I found in my accentuated Hebrew Bible!].
1768 A. Vieyra New Portuguese Gram. 218 A before e must be accentuated with the acute accent, and pronounced accordingly.
1822 W. J. Hort Eng. School Dict. Pref. At the end have been appended two alphabetical lists of Heathen Deities, &c. with brief explanations, designed to illustrate the fabulous histories of the Greeks and other Pagan nations; and a selection of Scripture Names, accentuated for pronunciation.
1846 T. Wright Ess. Middle Ages I. i. 9 The [Anglo-Saxon] scribes not only omitted accents, but they often accentuated words wrongly.
1892 F. C. Conybeare Collation Anc. Armenian Versions of Greek Text of Aristotle's Categories p. xxix In few Armenian manuscripts are the words accentuated with so much care and fulness.
1901 T. K. Cheyne & J. S. Black Encycl. Biblica II. 1167 It gives in its text some of the glosses on the margin of Camb. B and has one verse..punctuated and accentuated.
2005 J. Tromp Life Adam & Eve in Greek Introd. iii. 30 Numerous copyists appear to have written words in disregard of their meaning in a sentence's context. This can be illustrated by the fact that they could accentuate a word such as αποστελλειν as ἀπὸστέλλειν, accentuating the verbal prefix as if it were a preposition.
3. transitive. figurative. To make more noticeable or prominent; to emphasize. Cf. accent v. 2.The dominant modern sense.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > [verb (transitive)] > attach importance to > render outstanding
aggravate1549
accent1595
to lay weight upon1600
emphase1631
circumflect1643
to lay (also place, put) stress on (also upon)1653
to set home1656
forestall1657
circumflex1661
signalize1698
to lay stress, weight, emphasis on or upon1748
emphasize1793
accentuate1817
stress1845
to rub in1851
to draw out1855
underline1880
punctuate1883
peak1887
underscore1891
to point up1926
1817 [implied in: Lady Morgan France I. vii. 91 He [sc. Napoleon] required that an opera should be a succession of andantes or motivos of marked and accentuated expressions, and demanded the sacrifice of harmony and effect to melody.].
1831 D. Young in J. Edwards Treat. Relig. Affections (new ed.) Introd. p. xli There seems no extravagance in supposing, that those constitutional peculiarities..may yet contribute very powerfully to enrich and enliven the fellowship of the saints, and to accentuate the song of their combined adoration, after sin is put away, and the redemption of the whole man carried up to its consummation.
1857 N.Y. Musical Rev. 13 June 178/1 The cabaletta of the mad scene, for instance, was accentuated by a simper.
1865 W. E. H. Lecky Hist. Rationalism I. 371 To accentuate strongly the antagonism by which human nature is convulsed.
1875 P. G. Hamerton Intellect. Life (ed. 2) vii. v. 254 His marriage would strongly accentuate the amateur character of his position.
1906 H. G. Wells In Days of Comet i. iv. 130 Its long skirts accentuated the tubbiness of his body, the shortness of his legs.
1944 J. Mercer (title of song) Accentuate the positive.
1976 Aviation Week 16 Aug. 35/1 The present leeriness of lenders toward the airlines would be accentuated by..deregulation.
2001 S. Brett Death on Downs (2002) xxxvii. 240 Her pallor accentuated the fussiness of her garments.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2011; most recently modified version published online December 2021).
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v.?1719