ἔμφασις

Forms

ἔμφᾰσῐς (émphasis) f (genitive ἐμφᾰ́σεως); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Ancient Greek ἐμφαίνω (emphaínō, “to show in; to be reflected”) + -σις (-sis, “action noun suffix”).^[1][2][3] The verb is ἐν (en, “in”) with φαίνω (phaínō, “to show”), and Babiniotis notes that the noun is built on the short stem φα- (pha-) of the verb, not on φαν- (phan-).^[1][4]

Beekes traces the simple verb to Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to shine, appear”), whose primary verb survives in Sanskrit भाति (bhā́ti, “shines”).^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first well attested in Aristotle, for the image seen in a mirror, in water or in the sky: the rainbow, he says, is a reflection.^[2][6][7] Babiniotis cites an earlier fragment of Democritus with the word, and the lexicographer Zonaras reports Democritus' view that sight is the reception of the image reflected in the eye, a view he rejects.^[4][8]

Semantic evolution

From the reflection the sense widened to any outward appearance or impression, as opposed to reality: Aristotle contrasts what appears “by reflection” with what has real substance, and Polybius uses “to make an ἔμφασις” for giving the appearance of doing something.^[2][3][6] The Stoics and later philosophers used it for a presentation to the mind or a faint image of a higher reality, as Plutarch speaks of faint reflections of the truth.^[2]

Polybius also uses it actively, for a setting forth of facts, an exposition or a statement, and for emphatic assertion.^[2][9] In rhetoric it became the term for significance and for an expression that suggests more than it says,^[2] and Demetrius pairs it with intensity of style, and Quintilian took it over as Latin emphasis.^[2][10] Babrius uses it for the moral of a fable.^[2][3]

Medieval vernacular Greek used it for expressive force of style.^[11] Modern Greek has the learned έμφαση (émfasi), “emphasis, stress”, from the Hellenistic word.^[12][4] English emphasis was borrowed from Latin in the 1570s, first for intensity of expression.^[13]

Timeline

• 4th century BC – Aristotle uses it for a reflection in a mirror or water, and calls the rainbow a reflection.^[2][6]
• 4th–3rd century BC – Theophrastus uses “to produce an ἔμφασις” for stones that reflect images.^[2][6]
• 2nd century BC – Polybius uses it for appearance, exposition and emphatic assertion.^[2][9][6]
• 1st century BC – Dionysius of Halicarnassus uses “to have the appearance of”.^[2][6]
• 1st century AD (probably) – Babrius uses it for the moral of a fable.^[2][6]
• 1570s – English borrows emphasis from Latin.^[13]
• Modern Greek – The learned έμφαση (émfasi) means emphasis or stress.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A reflection in a mirror, in water or another smooth surface; a reflected image.^[2][6]
2. Outward appearance, impression, as opposed to reality.^[2][9] (philosophy) a faint image or presentation of something.^[2][9]
3. A setting forth, exposition, narration; a statement or indication.^[2][9]
4. (rhetoric) Significance, emphasis; an expression that suggests more than it says, a hint.^[2][3]
5. Vividness or expressiveness of style.^[9]
6. The moral of a fable.^[2][3]

Word family

• ἐμφατικός (emphatikós)

Related words

• ἐμφαίνω (emphaínō)
• φαίνω (phaínō)
• Latin emphasis
• English emphasis

Usage notes

The ancient lexica gloss it as “making clear”, “greatness” and “understanding”, and Zonaras also as “riddle”.^[14][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press
3. ^ a b c d e Bailly, Anatole (2020), Dictionnaire grec-français, Bailly 2020 Hugo Chávez ed., ed. Gérard Gréco et al.
4. ^ a b c Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
5. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Rodríguez Adrados, Francisco, et al., eds. (1980–), Diccionario Griego-Español, Madrid: CSIC, http://dge.cchs.csic.es/xdge
7. ^ Keersmaekers, Alek (2021–2025), GLAUx: The Greek Language Automated corpus, https://github.com/alekkeersmaekers/glaux
8. ^ a b Pseudo-Zonaras, Lexicon, ed. Johann August Heinrich Tittmann (1808), Iohannis Zonarae Lexicon, Leipzig: Crusius
9. ^ a b c d e f Diggle, James, et al., eds. (2021), The Cambridge Greek Lexicon, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
10. ^ Saalfeld, Günther Alexander (1874), Index Graecorum vocabulorum in linguam latinam translatorum, Berlin: Weidmann
11. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
12. ^ a b Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
13. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
14. ^ Hesychius of Alexandria, Lexicon, ed. Kurt Latte (Α–Ο, Copenhagen 1953–1966) and Moritz Schmidt (Π–Ω, Jena 1858–1868)