emphasis Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun special importance or significance
    accent.
    • the red light gave the central figure increased emphasis
    • the room was decorated in shades of grey with distinctive red accents
  2. noun intensity or forcefulness of expression
    vehemence.
    • the vehemence of his denial
    • his emphasis on civil rights
  3. noun special and significant stress by means of position or repetition e.g.
  4. noun the relative prominence of a syllable or musical note (especially with regard to stress or pitch)
    stress; accent.
    • he put the stress on the wrong syllable

WordNet

Em"pha*sis noun
Etymology
L., fr. Gr. significance, force of expression, fr. to show in, indicate; in + to show. See In, and Phase.
Wordforms
plural Emphases
Definitions
  1. (Rhet.) A particular stress of utterance, or force of voice, given in reading and speaking to one or more words whose signification the speaker intends to impress specially upon his audience.
    The province of emphasis is so much more important than accent, that the customary seat of the latter is changed, when the claims of emphasis require it. E. Porter.
  2. A peculiar impressiveness of expression or weight of thought; vivid representation, enforcing assent; as, to dwell on a subject with great emphasis.
    External objects stand before us . . . in all the life and emphasis of extension, figure, and color. Sir W. Hamilton.

Webster 1913