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emphasis - 5 dictionary results

em⋅pha⋅sis

  [em-fuh-sis]
Use emphasis in a Sentence
–noun, plural -ses  [-seez] .
1. special stress laid upon, or importance attached to, anything: The president's statement gave emphasis to the budgetary crisis.
2. something that is given great stress or importance: Morality was the emphasis of his speech.
3. Rhetoric.
a. special and significant stress of voice laid on particular words or syllables.
b. stress laid on particular words, by means of position, repetition, or other indication.
4. intensity or force of expression, action, etc.: Determination lent emphasis to his proposals.
5. prominence, as of form or outline: The background detracts from the emphasis of the figure.
6. Electronics. preemphasis.
Origin:
1565–75; < L < Gk émphasis indication, equiv. to em- em- 2 + phásis phasis

pre⋅em⋅pha⋅sis

  [pree-em-fuh-sis]
–noun Electronics.
a process of increasing the amplitude of certain frequencies relative to others in a signal in order to help them override noise, complemented by deemphasis before final reproduction of the signal being received.
Also, pre-em⋅pha⋅sis.
Also called emphasis, predistortion, preequalization.

Origin:
1940–45; pre- + emphasis
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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em·pha·sis   (ěm'fə-sĭs)   
n.   pl. em·pha·ses (-sēz')
  1. Special forcefulness of expression that gives importance to something singled out; stress: a lecture on housekeeping with emphasis on neatness; paused for emphasis, then announced the winner's name.
  2. Special attention or effort directed toward something: a small-town newspaper's emphasis on local affairs.
  3. Prominence given to a syllable, word, or words, as by raising the voice or printing in italic type.

[Latin, from Greek, from emphainein, to exhibit, display : en-, in; see en-2 + phainein, to show; see bhā-1 in Indo-European roots.]
Synonyms: These nouns mean special weight placed on something considered important: an education with an emphasis on science; will study music with an accent on jazz; laid heavy stress on law and order.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Emphasis

Em"pha*sis\, n.; pl. Emphases. [L., fr. Gr. ? significance, force of expression, fr. ? to show in, indicate; ? in + ? to show. See In, and Phase.]

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's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Language Translation for : emphasis
Spanish: énfasis,
German: die Betonung,
Japanese: 強調
More Translations »

emphasis 
1573, from L. emphasis, from Gk. emphasis "significance, indirect meaning," from empha-, root of emphainein "to present, show, indicate," from en- "in" + phainein "to show." In Gk. & L., developed a sense of "extra stress" given to a word or phrase in speech as a clue that it implies something more than literal meaning. Emphasize (v.) first recorded 1828; emphatic (adj.) first attested 1708.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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