DictionaryAI

emphasis

noun
EM-fuh-sis/ˈɛmfəsɪs/

Pluralemphases

5 meanings of emphasis

Practice

  1. 1
    nouncountable or uncountable
    Particular attention or importance given to something to single it out as significant.

    The report places particular emphasis on reducing waste.

    During negotiations, both sides put emphasis on long-term cooperation.

    Similarstress, weight, importance, priority

    Note

    The central sense, and the one its Greek name explains: émphasis, "significance," comes from a verb meaning "I indicate," built from en-, "in," and phaínō, "I show." Emphasis is importance made visible. The handiest phrase is for emphasis: a speaker pauses for emphasis or repeats a point for emphasis. The plural keeps the Greek pattern, emphases, so do not confuse it with the verb emphasizes.

  2. 2
    nouncountable or uncountable
    Special attention or prominence given to something, making it stand out.

    The museum's redesign placed emphasis on local history.

    Modern medicine has shifted its emphasis toward prevention.

    Similarfocus, attention, prominence, priority

    Note

    Here the weight falls on choice rather than delivery. An organization, a plan or a broadcaster has an emphasis, and that emphasis is on something. The preposition is on, as in put emphasis on the advantages or a station's emphasis is on its own region. Where the forceful meaning concerns how something is said, this one concerns what gets the attention.

  3. 3
    noununcountable
    Extra stress placed on a syllable or word, either by saying it more forcefully or by printing it in italics or with underlining.

    In the verb 'record', the emphasis falls on the second syllable.

    He gave the warning emphasis by printing it in bold italics.

    Similarstress, accent

  4. 4
    noununcountable
    The use of boldface, italics, or similar formatting to make text stand out on the page.

    The style guide recommends emphasis through italics rather than underlining.

    Web designers often overuse emphasis, leaving pages cluttered with bold text.

    Note

    Typographers treat emphasis as a toolkit of boldface, italics, small capitals and underlining. In this sense the word names the formatting device rather than the effect, which is why it can be counted and why a style guide can prefer one kind over another. A page crowded with emphases loses the contrast that makes any single one of them work.

  5. 5
    noununcountable
    In phonetics and phonology, the property that marks emphatic consonants, such as those of Arabic, as distinct from plain ones.

    In Arabic phonology, emphasis spreads from the consonant to nearby vowels.

    Linguists transcribe emphasis with a dot placed beneath the consonant symbol.

    Note

    A phonologist's term that has nothing to do with loudness. Emphasis is a quality built into certain consonants, usually pharyngealization or velarization, and Semitic languages are its classic home. Keep it apart from stress on a syllable: here the feature belongs to the sound itself, not to a speaker's wish to highlight a word, and it can color the vowels around it.

Practice

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Origin

From Latin emphasis, from Ancient Greek ἔμφασις (émphasis, 'significance'), from ἐμφαίνω (emphaínō, 'I present, I indicate'), itself made from ἐν- (en-, 'in') plus φαίνω (phaínō, 'I show').