accent vs highlight

accent

verb
  • To mark emphatically; to emphasize; to accentuate; to make prominent. 

  • To express the accent of vocally; to utter with accent. 

  • To mark with written accents. 

noun
  • A special emphasis of a tone, even in the weaker part of the measure. 

  • The rhythmical accent, which marks phrases and sections of a period. 

  • A very small gemstone set into a piece of jewellery. 

  • Emphasis or importance in general. 

  • A manner of pronunciation suggesting that the speaker is from a different region; a foreign accent. 

  • Emphasis laid on a part of an artistic design or composition; an emphasized detail, in particular a detail in sharp contrast to its surroundings. 

  • A word; a significant tone or sound. 

  • A mark used to represent this special emphasis. 

  • Stress laid on certain syllables of a verse. 

  • A regularly recurring stress upon the tone to mark the beginning, and, more feebly, the third part of the measure. 

  • Expressions in general; speech. 

  • A higher-pitched or stronger (louder or longer) articulation of a particular syllable of a word or phrase in order to distinguish it from the others or to emphasize it. 

  • Modulation of the voice in speaking; the manner of speaking or pronouncing; a peculiar or characteristic modification of the voice, expressing emotion; tone. 

  • A prime symbol. 

  • A mark or character used in writing, in order to indicate the place of the spoken accent, or to indicate the nature or quality of the vowel marked. 

  • A distinctive manner of producing a sign language, such as someone who does not normally use a certain sign language might have when using it. 

  • The distinctive manner of pronouncing a language associated with a particular region, social group, etc., whether of a native speaker or a foreign speaker; the phonetic and phonological aspects of a dialect. 

highlight

verb
  • To make prominent; emphasize. 

  • To be a highlight of. 

  • To seek the attention of (a user) on IRC by mentioning their name in a message, causing that message to appear highlighted on their screen. 

  • To mark (important passages of text), e.g. with a fluorescent marker pen or in a wordprocessor, as a means of memory retention or for later reference. 

  • To dye (part of the hair) a different color than the rest. 

noun
  • An area or a spot in a drawing, painting, or photograph that is strongly illuminated. 

  • An especially significant or interesting detail or event or period of time. 

  • A strand or spot of hair dyed a different color than the rest. 

How often have the words accent and highlight occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )