[ad. med.L. accentuātiōn-em intoning, chanting, n. of action f. accentuare: see ACCENTUATE.]
1. The marking of accent or stress in speech; the use or application of accent.
1827. Hare, Guesses at Truth, II. 208. The Latin … has substituted a stately monotonousness for the ever flexible rhythm and changing accentuation of the Greek.
1859. De Quincey, Wks., XII. 189. The accentuation of Milton’s age was, in many words, entirely different from ours.
1866. Felton, Anc. & Mod. Greece, I. iii. 37. It has been recently placed beyond a doubt that the Sanscrit system of accentuation is identical with that of the Greek.
2. The notation of accents in writing.
1846. T. Wright, Ess. on Mid. Ages, I. i. 10. In every [Anglo-Saxon] word we ought to know the accentuation.
Mod. Two Greek words which differ only in accentuation.
3. Mode of pronunciation; vocal modulation.
1818. Scott, Rob Roy, 347. There was a strong provincial accentuation, but, otherwise, the language … was graceful, flowing and declamatory.
1879. A. Trollope, Cousin Henry, xiv. 161. Read them one after another … slowly, but with clear accentuation so that every point … might be understood.
4. fig. Emphasizing, laying stress or dwelling upon, bringing into prominence.
1875. Stubbs, Const. Hist., III. xxi. 501. The constant ‘accentuation,’ as it is called, of principles in historical writing, invariably marks a narrow view of truth.
