What does accent in French mean?

What is the meaning of the word accent in French? The article explains the full meaning, pronunciation along with bilingual examples and instructions on how to use accent in French.

The word accent in French means accent, accent, stress, emphasis, sign, trace, acute accent, melodic accent, melodious accent, circumflex accent, southern accent, southern French feel, feel of the South of France, local accent, brogue, country accent, foreign accent, grave accent, northern French accent, tonic stress, tonic accent, drawl, have a slight accent, put the emphasis on, emphasize. To learn more, please see the details below.

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Meaning of the word accent

accent

nom masculin (intonation régionale) (pronunciation)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Son accent du sud est très prononcé.
His southern accent is very pronounced.

accent

nom masculin (marque typographique) (printing)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Les « e » du mot « été » prennent tous deux un accent.
The two e's in the word "été" both have an acute accent.

stress

nom masculin (Phonétique : prononciation plus forte)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
L'accent du mot anglais « cinema » est sur la première syllabe.
The stress in the English word "cinema" is on the first syllable.

emphasis

nom masculin (emphase)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Il a mis l'accent sur la stratégie marketing de l'entreprise.
He put the emphasis on the business's marketing strategy.

sign, trace

nom masculin (marque, empreinte)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Il y a des accents de colère dans ses questions.
There are signs of anger in her questions.

acute accent

nom masculin (signe diacritique)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Les « e » du mot « été » prennent tous deux un accent aigu.

melodic accent, melodious accent

nom masculin (intonation régionale)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
J'aime l'accent chantant des Montpelliérains.

circumflex accent

nom masculin (signe diacritique)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Le mot « tête » s'écrit avec un accent circonflexe.

southern accent

nom masculin (France (accent des gens du Sud de la France)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

southern French feel, feel of the South of France

nom masculin (France, figuré (chose rappelant le Sud de la France)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

local accent, brogue, country accent

nom masculin (accent typique d'une région)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

foreign accent

nom masculin (façon de parler non native)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

grave accent

nom masculin (signe diacritique)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
Le mot « très » s'écrit avec un accent grave.

northern French accent

nom masculin (France (accent des gens du Nord de la France)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

tonic stress, tonic accent

nom masculin (accentuation d'une syllabe) (Linguistics)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)
En français, l'accent tonique se trouve sur la dernière syllabe du mot.

drawl

nom masculin (accent forçant les syllabes finales)

(noun: Refers to person, place, thing, quality, etc.)

have a slight accent

locution verbale (avoir un accent très léger)

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Son mari avait une pointe d'accent du midi.

put the emphasis on

(insister sur [qch])

(verbal expression: Phrase with special meaning functioning as verb--for example, "put their heads together," "come to an end.")
Le professeur met l'accent sur ce sujet.

emphasize

(mettre [qch] en exergue)

(transitive verb: Verb taking a direct object--for example, "Say something." "She found the cat.")
Ce village met l'accent sur son patrimoine forestier.

Let's learn French

So now that you know more about the meaning of accent in French, you can learn how to use them through selected examples and how to read them. And remember to learn the related words that we suggest. Our website is constantly updating with new words and new examples so you can look up the meanings of other words you don't know in French.

Do you know about French

French (le français) is a Romance language. Like Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish, it comes from popular Latin, once used in the Roman Empire. A French-speaking person or country can be called a "Francophone". French is the official language in 29 countries. French is the fourth most spoken native language in the European Union. French ranks third in the EU, after English and German, and is the second most widely taught language after English. The majority of the world's French-speaking population lives in Africa, with about 141 million Africans from 34 countries and territories who can speak French as a first or second language. French is the second most widely spoken language in Canada, after English, and both are official languages at the federal level. It is the first language of 9.5 million people or 29% and the second language of 2.07 million people or 6% of the entire population of Canada. In contrast to other continents, French has no popularity in Asia. Currently, no country in Asia recognizes French as an official language.