emphasis
//ˈɛmfəsɪs//
formalForms
- Plural
- emphases
Definitions
1.Special weight or forcefulness given to something considered important.
- He paused for emphasis before saying who had won.
2.Special attention or prominence given to something.
- Anglia TV's emphasis is on Norwich and district.
- Put emphasis on the advantages rather than the drawbacks.
- The second level of reading we will call Inspectional Reading. It is characterized by its special emphasis on time.
3.Prominence given to a syllable or words, by raising the voice or printing in italic or underlined type.
- He used a yellow highlighter to indicate where to give emphasis in his speech.
4.The phonetic or phonological feature that distinguishes emphatic consonants from other consonants.
Frequency
Overall
Uncommon· #2855
By learning goal
- Everyday conversation
- Rare
- General reading & writing
- Uncommon
- Academic
- Uncommon
- Literature
- Rare
Related words
Synonyms
Etymology
From Latin emphasis
From Ancient Greek ἔμφασις (émphasis, “significance”)
From ἐμφαίνω (emphaínō, “to present; to indicate”)
From ἐν- (en-, “in”) + φαίνω (phaínō, “to show”).