emphasis

English

Etymology

From Latin emphasis, from Ancient Greek ἔμφασις (émphasis, “significance”), from ἐμφαίνω (emphaínō, “I present, I indicate”), from ἐν- (en-, “in”) + φαίνω (phaínō, “I show”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɛmfəsɪs/
• IPA^(key): [ˈɛɱfəsɪs], [ˈeɱfəsɪs], [ˈɛɱfəsəs], [ˈeɱfəsəs]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

emphasis (countable and uncountable, plural emphases)

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.

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. (phonology) The phonetic or phonological feature that distinguishes emphatic consonants from other consonants.
5. (typography) The use of boldface, italics, or other such formatting to highlight text. (Can we add an example for this sense?)

Derived terms

• deemphasis
• de-emphasis
• hyperemphasis
• misemphasis
• my emphasis
• overemphasis
• preemphasis
• reemphasis
• superemphasis
• underemphasis

 

Related terms

• de-emphasisation
• de-emphasization
• emphasisation
• emphasise
• emphasiser
• emphasising
• emphasization
• emphasize
• emphasizer
• emphasizing
• emphatic
• emphatical
• emphatically
• emphaticalness
• emphaticness

 

Translations

special weight or forcefulness given to something considered important

• Arabic: تَرْكِيز m (tarkīz)
• Bashkir: баҫым (baśım)
• Belarusian: на́ціск m (nácisk), акцэ́нт m (akcént)
• Bulgarian: акцент (bg) m (akcent), подчертаване (bg) n (podčertavane), емфа́за (bg) f (emfáza)
• Catalan: èmfasi (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 強調 / 强调 (zh) (qiángdiào)

• Danish: vægt c
• Dutch: nadruk (nl) m
• Esperanto: akcento
• Finnish: painotus (fi), painottaa (fi)
• French: accent (fr) m, emphase (fr) f
• Galician: énfase (gl) f
• German: Nachdruck (de) m, Eindringlichkeit (de) f, Emphase (de) f
• Greek: έμφαση (el) f (émfasi)

  Ancient: ἔμφασις f (émphasis)

• Hungarian: nyomaték (hu)
• Ido: emfazo (io)
• Irish: béim (ga)
• Italian: enfasi (it) f
• Japanese: 強調 (ja) (きょうちょう, kyōchō)
• Korean: 강조 (ko) (gangjo)
• Luxembourgish: Betounung f, Akzent m
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: vektlegging m or f

  Nynorsk: vektlegging f

• Panjabi/ਪੰਜਾਬੀ: ਜੋਰ f (jor)
• Persian: تأکید (fa) (ta'kid)
• Polish: akcent (pl) m, nacisk (pl) m
• Portuguese: ênfase (pt) f
• Romanian: emfază (ro) f
• Russian: подчёркивание (ru) n (podčórkivanije), ударе́ние (ru) n (udarénije), осо́бое внима́ние n (osóboje vnimánije), акце́нт (ru) m (akcént)
• Scottish Gaelic: cudrom m
• Spanish: énfasis (es) m, hincapié (es)
• Ukrainian: на́голос m (náholos), акце́нт (uk) m (akcént)

special attention or prominence given to something

• Bashkir: баҫым (baśım)
• Bulgarian: емфа́за (bg) f (emfáza)
• Catalan: èmfasi (ca) f
• Dutch: benadrukking (nl)
• Finnish: painopiste (fi)
• German: Schwerpunkt (de) m, Hauptaugenmerk (de) n, Fokus (de) m
• Greek: έμφαση (el) f (émfasi)
• Hungarian: hangsúly (hu)
• Ido: emfazo (io)
• Italian: risalto (it) m
• Japanese: 注目 (ja) (ちゅうもく, chūmoku), 重点 (ja) (じゅうてん, jyūten)
• Persian: تأکید (fa) (ta'kid)
• Polish: akcent (pl) m, nacisk (pl) m
• Portuguese: ênfase (pt) f
• Romanian: emfază (ro) f
• Spanish: énfasis (es) m

prominence given to a syllable or words, whether in speech or in printing

• Bashkir: баҫым (baśım)
• Belarusian: на́ціск m (nácisk)
• Bulgarian: ударение (bg) n (udarenie), емфа́за (bg) f (emfáza)
• Catalan: èmfasi (ca) f
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 強勢 / 强势 (zh) (qiángshì)

• Czech: důraz (cs) m
• Danish: emfase c, betoning c
• Dutch: klemtoon (nl) m, beklemtoning
• Esperanto: akcento
• Finnish: paino (fi)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: Betonung (de) f
• Greek: έμφαση (el) f (émfasi)
• Hebrew: הטעמה (he) f (hat'amá)
• Hungarian: hangsúly (hu), kiemelés (hu)
• Italian: enfasi (it) f
• Japanese: 強調 (ja) (きょうちょう, kyōchō), 強勢 (ja) (きょうせい, kyōsei)
• Korean: 강세 (gangse)
• Persian: تأکید (fa) (ta'kid)
• Polish: akcent (pl) m
• Portuguese: ênfase (pt) f
• Romanian: emfază (ro) f
• Russian: ударе́ние (ru) n (udarénije)
• Scottish Gaelic: cudrom m
• Spanish: énfasis (es) m
• Turkish: please add this translation if you can
• Ukrainian: на́голос m (náholos)

phonology: the phonetic or phonological feature that distinguishes emphatic consonants from other consonants

• Finnish: emfaasi
• Polish: akcent (pl) m

typography: the use of boldface, italics, or other such formatting to highlight text

• Catalan: èmfasi (ca)
• Finnish: lihavointi (fi)
• Japanese: 強調 (ja) (きょうちょう, kyōchō)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• French: ^{(please verify)} graisse (fr) f (4)

Anagrams

• misshape

Latin

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἔμφασις (émphasis, “significance”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈem.pʰa.sis/, [ˈɛmpʰäs̠ɪs̠]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈem.fa.sis/, [ˈɛmfäs̬is]

Noun

emphasis f (genitive emphasis); third declension

1. emphasis

Declension

Third-declension noun (i-stem).

	singular	plural
nominative	emphasis	emphasēs
genitive	emphasis	emphasium
dative	emphasī	emphasibus
accusative	emphasem	emphasēs emphasīs
ablative	emphase	emphasibus
vocative	emphasis	emphasēs

References

• “emphasis”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• emphasis in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.