Definition
paroxytones
noun
- Words in which the stress or accent falls on the penultimate (second-to-last) syllable.
Usage: linguistics; plural form of paroxytone; common in Greek and Latin grammar
Examples
- In English, most two-syllable words are paroxytones, such as 'PREsent' and 'TAble'.
- Greek paroxytones include words like 'ánthropos' (human being).
- The term 'paroxytone' comes from Greek and is used in linguistic analysis.
- Students learning ancient Greek must identify paroxytones to understand accentuation rules.
- Many Spanish words are paroxytones, with stress on the second-to-last syllable.