English
overaccent
Overaccent comes from Latin accinō ‘to sing to’, and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *keh₂n-.
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keh₂n-1‘to sing’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂néti1reconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kanō1‘to sing’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcanō1‘to sing, recite, play’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccinō1‘to sing to’
- Medieval Latinmodernaccentus1
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600accent1
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400accent1
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500accent1
- English1500–presentaccent1
- Englishtodayoveraccent1
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor
- 1 Wiktionary, English overaccent
Lineage
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*keh₂n-Wiktionary, English overaccent‘to sing’reconstructed
- Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*kh₂nétiWiktionary, English overaccentreconstructed
- Proto-Italicc. 1500–700 BCE*kanōWiktionary, English overaccent‘to sing’reconstructed
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEcanōWiktionary, English overaccent‘to sing, recite, play’
- Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CEaccinōWiktionary, English overaccent‘to sing to’
- Medieval LatinmodernaccentusWiktionary, English overaccent
- Middle Frenchc. 1400–1600accentWiktionary, English overaccent
- Anglo-Normanc. 1066–1400accentWiktionary, English overaccent
- Middle Englishc. 1150–1500accentWiktionary, English overaccent
- English1500–presentaccentWiktionary, English overaccent
- EnglishtodayoveraccentWiktionary, English overaccent
Linked words
through Proto-Indo-European *kh₂néti
through Proto-Italic *kanō ‘to sing’
chanting, cantor, enchantment, incantation, chantry, enchant, recant, canticle, chanter, 42 more
through Latin canō ‘to sing, recite, play’
Today it means
verb To accent too much.
Sources
Sources: Wiktionary, “overaccent”. 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- / overaccent