Etymograph

English

accent

Accent comes from Latin accinō ‘sing to, sing along’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *keh₂n-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keh₂n-‘to sing’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂nétireconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kanō‘to sing’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcanō‘to sing’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccinō‘sing to, sing along’
  6. Medieval Latinmodernaccentus
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600accent
  8. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400same form
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  10. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keh₂n-‘to sing’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂nétireconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kanō‘to sing’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcanō‘to sing’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccinō‘sing to, sing along’
  6. Medieval Latinmodernaccentus
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600accent
  8. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400same form
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500same form
  10. Englishearliest quotation c. 1603–1606same form

Earliest quotation: c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, The Tragedie of King Lear: “I know, sir, I am no flatterer: he that…”

The story

The word accent had been borrowed into Old English already, but was lost and reborrowed in Middle English.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *kh₂néti

enchanter, 23 more

through Proto-Italic *kanō ‘to sing’

chanting, cantor, enchantment, incantation, chantry, recant, enchant, canticle, chanter, 42 more

through Latin canō ‘to sing’

cant, incentive, chant, bazooka, shanty, chanson, 51 more

Another origin of accent

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keh₂n-‘to sing’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-European, derivedc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂nétireconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kanō‘to sing’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcanō‘sing’
  5. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccinō‘to sing to’
  6. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccentus‘accent, tone, accentuation’
  7. Latin, derivedc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccentō
  8. Old Frenchc. 842–1400accenter
  9. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600same form
  10. Englishtodayaccent

Today it means

noun 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.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *keh₂n- / accent

Shirt and support for this word