emphasis English · revision 6915

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1573|origins=grc ἔμφασις}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ˈɛmfəsɪs/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|emphasis]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline) from [[grc|ἔμφασις|tr=émphasis|t=appearance; in rhetoric, significance, implied meaning]],^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)^(NODE 1998) from [[m|grc|ἐμφαίνω|tr=emphaínein|t=to show, exhibit]], from [[m|grc|ἐν|tr=en|t=in]] and [[m|grc|φαίνω|tr=phaínein|t=to show]] (see [[fantasy]]).^(Barnhart 1988)^(Hoad 1986)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Vigour or intensity of expression: 1573 in the OED and Barnhart, the 1570s in Etymonline.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In Greek and Latin rhetoric it meant a figure of speech that implies more than is said, the original English sense in NODE, recorded in 1589.^(NODE 1998)^(OED 1989) From this came the delivery suited to suggestive expression, rhetorical stress, and then any extra stress of voice on a word.^(Etymonline) Intensity of feeling or action is from 1602,^(OED 1989) and prominence or importance given to something is a 19th-century sense.^(Hoad 1986) [[emphatic|alt=Emphatic]] is from 1708 and [[emphasize]] from 1828.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1573 – intensity of expression.^(OED 1989)^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1589 – the rhetorical figure.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1602 – intensity of feeling.^(OED 1989)

+ * 1708 – emphatic.^(Barnhart 1988)

+ * 1828 – emphasize.^(Barnhart 1988)

+

+ ==Modern meaning==

+ ===Noun===

+ # Special importance or value given to something.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Extra force given to a word or syllable in speaking; [[stress]].^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+ # Intensity of expression or feeling.^(AHD)^(Collins 2023)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[misemphasis]]

+ * [[overemphasis]]

+ * [[preemphasis]]

+ * [[reemphasis]]

+ * [[superemphasis]]

+ * [[underemphasis]]

+ * [[de-emphasis]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[emphatic]]

+ * [[emphasise]]

+ * [[emphasize]]

+ * [[phase]]

+ * [[phenomenon]]

+ * [[fantasy]]

+ * [[diaphanous]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}