oxytone, a. and n. Gram., chiefly Gr. Gram.
(ˈɒksɪtəʊn)
Also oxyton.
[ad. Gr. ὀξύτον-ος having the acute accent, f. ὀξυ- sharp, acute + τόνος pitch, tone, accent.]
a. adj. Having an acute accent on the last syllable. b. n. A word so accented.
| 1764 W. Primatt Accentus redivivi 109 Aristarchus..has pronounced it [ἄγυιαν] as an oxytone. 1869 J. Hadley Ess. (1873) 111 On the last syllable of an oxytone word, when..its higher pitch changes to a lower, the lower pitch is represented in..the same way as in the latter part of the circumflex accent. 1881 Westcott & Hort Grk. N.T. II. App. 6/2 They are not independent or strictly final oxytones, being treated as fragments of a clause. |
Hence ˈoxytone, ˈoxytonize vbs. trans., to make oxytone; to pronounce or write with the accent on the last syllable.
| 1887 Science 29 Apr. 412/2 There is also a tendency to oxytonize many words,..although the accent shifts, as in other Indian languages. |