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Definition of accentuate verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

accentuate

verb
 
/əkˈsentʃueɪt/
 
/əkˈsentʃueɪt/
Verb Forms
present simple I / you / we / they accentuate
 
/əkˈsentʃueɪt/
 
/əkˈsentʃueɪt/
he / she / it accentuates
 
/əkˈsentʃueɪts/
 
/əkˈsentʃueɪts/
past simple accentuated
 
/əkˈsentʃueɪtɪd/
 
/əkˈsentʃueɪtɪd/
past participle accentuated
 
/əkˈsentʃueɪtɪd/
 
/əkˈsentʃueɪtɪd/
-ing form accentuating
 
/əkˈsentʃueɪtɪŋ/
 
/əkˈsentʃueɪtɪŋ/
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  1. accentuate something to emphasize something or make it easier to notice
    • Her short hair accentuated her huge eyes.
    • The fundamental patterns of inequality have remained and have been accentuated by the war.
    • When talks did occur, they tended to accentuate differences between the two groups.
    Word Originmid 18th cent.: from medieval Latin accentuat- ‘accented’, from the verb accentuare, from accentus ‘tone’(from ad- ‘to’ + cantus ‘song’), translating Greek prosōidia ‘a song sung to music, intonation’.
See accentuate in the Oxford Advanced American DictionarySee accentuate in the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English
trait
noun
 
 
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