Etymologically
Log in

highlight

Etymology and origin of the English word highlight

History Permalink
Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1650s

Pronunciation

  • IPA: /ˈhaɪlaɪt/ (UK); /ˈhaɪˌlaɪt/ (US)[1]

Etymology

It is a compound of high and light.[2][3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The brightest part of a painting: the 1650s in Etymonline, the mid-17th century in SOED.[2][3]

Semantic evolution

High lights also came to mean the lighter colours used in painting, and the term passed into photography and engraving.[2] The figurative sense, an outstanding feature, is by 1855, as highlights give effect to a picture, but it was not common before about 1920.[2] The verb, to give highlights to a painting, is from 1861; to bring into prominence is from 1934 in the OED (by 1944 in Etymonline).[2][5] Bleached streaks in the hair are from 1941–42,[2][5] and marking text with a fluorescent pen, a highlighter, from 1968.[5]

Timeline

  • 1650s – the brightest part of a painting.[2]
  • 1855 – an outstanding feature.[2]
  • 1861 – the verb, in painting.[2]
  • 1934 – to bring into prominence.[5]
  • 1941 – hairdressing.[2]
  • 1968 – to mark text with a highlighter.[5]

Modern meaning

Noun

  1. The most interesting or memorable part of an event or period.
  2. A brightly lit area in a painting, drawing or photograph.
  3. (often plural) A bleached or lightened streak in the hair.

Verb

  1. To draw attention to; to emphasize.
  2. To mark text with a highlighter or, on a computer screen, to select it.
  3. To make streaks of lighter colour in hair.

Word family

  • highlighter

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
  5. ^ a b c d e Simpson, J. A.; Weiner, E. S. C., eds. (1989), The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
Cite this entry

“Highlight.” Etymologically, 16 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/en/highlight. Accessed 16 Oct. 2026.

Last edited on . ·