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ac·cen·tu·ate (ăk-sĕnch-āt′)
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tr.v. ac·cen·tu·at·ed, ac·cen·tu·at·ing, ac·cen·tu·ates
1. To stress or emphasize; intensify: "land-reform plans that accentuated the already chaotic pattern of landholding" (James Fallows).
2. To pronounce with a stress or accent.
3. To mark with an accent.
[Medieval Latin accentuāre, accentuāt-, from Latin accentus, accent; see ACCENT.]
ac·cen′tu·ation n.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition copyright ©2020 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
 

Indo-European & Semitic Roots Appendices

    Thousands of entries in the dictionary include etymologies that trace their origins back to reconstructed proto-languages. You can obtain more information about these forms in our online appendices:

    Indo-European Roots

    Semitic Roots

    The Indo-European appendix covers nearly half of the Indo-European roots that have left their mark on English words. A more complete treatment of Indo-European roots and the English words derived from them is available in our Dictionary of Indo-European Roots.

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