Etymograph

English

misaccent

Misaccent comes from Middle French accent, from Latin accinō ‘to sing to’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂n-.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keh₂n-1‘to sing’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂néti1reconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kanō1‘to sing’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcanō1‘to sing, recite, play’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccinō1‘to sing to’
  6. Medieval Latinmodernaccentus1
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600accent1
  8. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400accent1
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500accent1
  10. English1500–presentaccent1
  11. Englishtodaymisaccent1

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

  1. 1 Wiktionary, English misaccent

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keh₂n-Wiktionary, English misaccent‘to sing’reconstructed
  2. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂nétiWiktionary, English misaccentreconstructed
  3. Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kanōWiktionary, English misaccent‘to sing’reconstructed
  4. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcanōWiktionary, English misaccent‘to sing, recite, play’
  5. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccinōWiktionary, English misaccent‘to sing to’
  6. Medieval LatinmodernaccentusWiktionary, English misaccent
  7. Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600accentWiktionary, English misaccent
  8. Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400accentWiktionary, English misaccent
  9. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500accentWiktionary, English misaccent
  10. English1500–presentaccentWiktionary, English misaccent
  11. EnglishtodaymisaccentWiktionary, English misaccent

A compound of mis- + accent

Proto-Indo-European *mey- ‘to change’

Proto-Indo-European *mitˢtós ‘mutual, reciprocal’

Proto-Germanic *missa- ‘wrongly, badly, mis-’

Proto-West Germanic *missa- ‘mis-, wrongly’

English mis-

Proto-Indo-European *keh₂n- ‘to sing’

…

Medieval Latin accentus

Middle French accent

Anglo-Norman accent

Middle English accent

English accent

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, recite, play’

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

Today it means

verb To accent incorrectly.

Sources

Sources: Wiktionary, “misaccent”. By Wiktionary contributors, CC BY-SA 4.0, via kaikki.org (dump of Oct 3 2026); text adapted and restructured. Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word. License.

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

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