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Which musical instruction tells a performer to give a note particular emphasis?

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emphasis

American  

[em-fuh-sis] / ˈɛm fə sɪs /

noun

• emphases
  plural

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.

   1. special and significant stress of voice laid on particular words or syllables.

   2. 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.

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emphasis British  

/ ˈɛmfəsɪs /

noun

1. special importance or significance

2. an object, idea, etc, that is given special importance or significance

3. stress made to fall on a particular syllable, word, or phrase in speaking

4. force or intensity of expression

   he spoke with special emphasis on the subject of civil rights

5. sharpness or clarity of form or outline

   the sunlight gave emphasis to the shape of the mountain

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• misemphasis
  noun
• reemphasis
  noun
• superemphasis
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• emphases
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of emphasis

First recorded in 1565–75; from Latin, from Greek émphasis “indication,” equivalent to em- em- ² + phásis phasis

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Explanation

While the emphasis, or main focus, for walking a dog might be on "answering the call of nature," the emphasis for the dog might be on chasing squirrels. If you say emphasis a little louder or with extra oomph in your pronunciation, you are putting emphasis on the word. This emphasis makes it clear that special attention, or emphasis, should be given to the word. Now, having repeated emphasis so many times, the "s" sound really stands out, sort of like in the word "stress." When you stress a point, you put emphasis on something — it is the main thing, the emphasis.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

emphasis emphases

Previously, much of the emphasis was placed on how easily existing defects could travel through a material.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 31, 2026

The trip has been planned alongside the governments of the Bahamas, Guyana and Antigua and Barbuda with an emphasis on honouring the past but also looking forward to the ambition and possibility for future generations.

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026

NBA officials have placed a larger emphasis on flopping this season, along with limiting use of off-arm force against defenders, reckless closeouts and time wasting on free throws.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026

This also implies less emphasis on headline GDP growth and greater tolerance for near-term growth fluctuations instead of pursing growth at all costs, they add.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026

The noise from the music room hammers around us in emphasis, copying the beating of my heart.

From "A Place at the Table" by Saadia Faruqi and Laura Shovan

Still, Treuer admits, “there is a movement from the local to the quasi-universal through the three books, the same mixture in all three, just with different emphases on historical, reported and memoiristic material.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 20, 2026

The show’s photos, predominantly in black and white, document these dramatic emphases as revealed by the stances and gestures of Graham and her dedicated group of women.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026

An agency spokesperson told ProPublica it is not unusual for the institute to publish directors’ letters with grant applications, and that this one informs readers “about this Administration’s thematic emphases in the semi-quincentennial year.”

From Salon ● Feb. 7, 2026

Where Hearts had made the right choices in key moments, Celtic too often took the wrong option with passes, crosses and emphases.

From BBC ● Dec. 16, 2023

This was founded upon the same basis 228 as the theory of Caccini, which condemned emphatically the indiscriminate employment of swelled tones, exclamatory emphases and other vocal devices.

From Some Forerunners of Italian Opera by W. J. (William James) Henderson

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Related Words

• attention
• insistence
• intensity
• priority
• significance
• strength
• stress
• weight

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