emphasis

Pronunciation

• IPA (Classical): [ˈɛm.pʰa.sɪs]^[1]
• IPA (Ecclesiastical): [ˈɛm.fa.s̬is]^[1]

Forms

emphasis f (genitive emphasis); third declension^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Ancient Greek ἔμφασις (émphasis, “appearance; significance”), from ἐμφαίνω (emphaínō, “to show, let be seen”).^[2][1][3][4] Manuscripts often write ⟨enf-⟩.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Köbler's first source is Quintilian, whom he dates c. 35–95/96 AD.^[3][6]

Semantic evolution

In rhetoric it meant the use of language to imply more than is said, emphasis, rhetorical stress, as Quintilian explains.^[2][6][7]

British Medieval Latin used it for emphasis, stress, the implication of more than is stated, and metonymy.^[8] English emphasis came in the 1570s, “intensity of expression”.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 35–95/96 AD – Quintilian discusses it.^[6][3]
• 1570s – English emphasis is recorded.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (rhetoric) Implying more than is said; emphasis.^[2]
2. (Medieval Latin) Metonymy.^[8]

Related words

• English emphasis
• English emphatic

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ a b c Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de
4. ^ a b c Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ Thesaurus linguae Latinae (1900–), Leipzig: Teubner; Berlin: De Gruyter; open-access ed., Munich: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften
6. ^ a b c Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
8. ^ a b Latham, R. E., D. R. Howlett, R. K. Ashdowne, et al. (1975–2013), Dictionary of Medieval Latin from British Sources, London: British Academy / Oxford University Press