oxytone
/ˈɑksɪtoʊn/
noun
- A word that has the stress or accent on the last syllable.
- In Greek, 'theós' is an oxytone because the stress falls on the final syllable.
- The teacher explained that 'café' is an oxytone in English, with the emphasis on the last syllable.
- Linguistics students learn to identify oxytones by listening for the final-syllable stress.
adjective
- Having the stress or accent on the last syllable.
- Many French loanwords in English are oxytone, like 'buffet' and 'garage'.
- In her poetry class, she studied oxytone words to understand rhythm patterns.
- The word 'balloon' is oxytone, with the stress on the second syllable.