Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Accent \Ac"cent`\, n. [F. accent, L. accentus; ad + cantus a
   singing, canere to sing. See {Cant}.]
   1. A superior force of voice or of articulative effort upon
      some particular syllable of a word or a phrase,
      distinguishing it from the others.

   Note: Many English words have two accents, the primary and
         the secondary; the primary being uttered with a greater
         stress of voice than the secondary; as in as'pira"tion,
         where the chief stress is on the third syllable, and a
         slighter stress on the first. Some words, as
         an'tiap'o-plec"tic, in-com'pre-hen'si-bil"i-ty, have
         two secondary accents. See Guide to Pron., [th][th]
         30-46.

   2. A mark or character used in writing, and serving to
      regulate the pronunciation; esp.:
      (a) a mark to indicate the nature and place of the spoken
          accent;
      (b) a mark to indicate the quality of sound of the vowel
          marked; as, the French accents.

   Note: In the ancient Greek the acute accent (') meant a
         raised tone or pitch, the grave (`), the level tone or
         simply the negation of accent, the circumflex ( ~ or ^)
         a tone raised and then depressed. In works on
         elocution, the first is often used to denote the rising
         inflection of the voice; the second, the falling
         inflection; and the third (^), the compound or waving
         inflection. In dictionaries, spelling books, and the
         like, the acute accent is used to designate the
         syllable which receives the chief stress of voice.

   3. Modulation of the voice in speaking; manner of speaking or
      pronouncing; peculiar or characteristic modification of
      the voice; tone; as, a foreign accent; a French or a
      German accent. ``Beguiled you in a plain accent.'' --Shak.
      ``A perfect accent.'' --Thackeray.

            The tender accent of a woman's cry.   --Prior.

   4. A word; a significant tone; (pl.) expressions in general;
      speech.

            Winds! on your wings to Heaven her accents bear,
            Such words as Heaven alone is fit to hear. --Dryden.

   5. (Pros.) Stress laid on certain syllables of a verse.

   6. (Mus.)
      (a) A regularly recurring stress upon the tone to mark the
          beginning, and, more feebly, the third part of the
          measure.
      (b) A special emphasis of a tone, even in the weaker part
          of the measure.
      (c) The rhythmical accent, which marks phrases and
          sections of a period.
      (d) The expressive emphasis and shading of a passage. --J.
          S. Dwight.

   7. (Math.)
      (a) A mark placed at the right hand of a letter, and a
          little above it, to distinguish magnitudes of a
          similar kind expressed by the same letter, but
          differing in value, as y', y[sec].
      (b) (Trigon.) A mark at the right hand of a number,
          indicating minutes of a degree, seconds, etc.; as,
          12'27[sec], i. e., twelve minutes twenty seven
          seconds.
      (c) (Engin.) A mark used to denote feet and inches; as, 6'
          10[sec] is six feet ten inches.

Accent \Ac*cent"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Accented}; p. pr. & vb.
   n. {Accenting}.] [OF. accenter, F. accentuer.]
   1. To express the accent of (either by the voice or by a
      mark); to utter or to mark with accent.

   2. To mark emphatically; to emphasize.

Source : WordNet®

accent
     n 1: distinctive manner of oral expression; "he couldn't suppress
          his contemptuous accent"; "she had a very clear speech
          pattern" [syn: {speech pattern}]
     2: special importance or significance; "the red light gave the
        central figure increased emphasis"; "the room was
        decorated in shades of gray with distinctive red accents"
        [syn: {emphasis}]
     3: the usage or vocabulary that is characteristic of a specific
        group of people; "the immigrants spoke an odd dialect of
        English"; "he has a strong German accent" [syn: {dialect},
         {idiom}]
     4: the relative prominence of a syllable or musical note
        (especially with regard to stress or pitch); "he put the
        stress on the wrong syllable" [syn: {stress}, {emphasis}]
     5: a diacritical mark used to indicate stress or placed above a
        vowel to indicate a special pronunciation [syn: {accent
        mark}]

accent
     v 1: to stress, single out as important; "Dr. Jones emphasizes
          exercise in addition to a change in diet" [syn: {stress},
           {emphasize}, {emphasise}, {punctuate}, {accentuate}]
     2: put stress on; utter with an accent; "In Farsi, you accent
        the last syllable of each word" [syn: {stress}, {accentuate}]

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

Accent
     
         A very high level interpreted language from
        {CaseWare, Inc.} with strings and tables.  It is {strongly
        typed} and has remote function calls.
     
        (1994-11-08)