Etymology

accent

ac·cent
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Today it means: A higher-pitched or stronger (louder or longer) articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to emphasize it. Full definition →

Middle English accent ← Anglo-Norman accent ← Middle French accent
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accent · noun1

  1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂éd
  2. Proto-Italic*ad
  3. Proto-Italic*ad-
  4. Latinad-
  5. Proto-Indo-European*keh₂n-
  6. Proto-Indo-European*kh₂néti
  7. Proto-Italic*kanō
  8. Latincanō
  9. Latinaccinō
  10. Ancient Greekπροσῳδῐ́ᾱ (prosōidĭ́ā)
  11. Medieval Latinaccentus
  12. Middle Frenchaccent
  13. Anglo-Normanaccent
  14. Middle Englishaccent
  15. English todayaccent

Inherited from Middle English accent, from Medieval Latin accentus and Old French accent, acent, both from Latin accentus, past participle of accinō (“sing to, sing along”), from ad- + canō (“to sing”). The word accent had been borrowed into Old English already, but was lost and reborrowed in Middle English. Displaced native Old English swēġ.

accent · verb2

  1. Latin · derived fromaccentō
  2. Old French · derived fromaccenter
  3. Middle French · derived fromaccenter
  4. English todayaccent

From Middle French accenter, from Old French accenter, from Latin accentō, from accentus.

Words from the same roots

Latinaccentus all →

accentuateacute accent

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.