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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

Diez told MarketWatch that Agility’s emphasis on safety and its ability to deploy autonomous humanoids sets it apart from competitors.

From MarketWatch ● Nov. 5, 2026

In their second attempt at securing a conviction, prosecutors are putting less emphasis on Rinderknecht’s alleged resentment of the wealthy, instead highlighting laboratory tests they allege prove that a lighter could ignite the hillside vegetation.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 4, 2026

The study had several strengths, including its carefully controlled feeding approach, two parallel comparison groups, and emphasis on whole fruits rather than isolated nutrients or supplements.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 3, 2026

Nearby, the 1930s modernist villa of Hungarian opera singer Rózsi Walter was restored and reopened in 2022 as an architecture museum, with an emphasis on the legacy of Hungarian-American architect and designer Marcel Breuer.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026

To overcome the difficulty of getting past that monosyllable, I took it from her, and said, repeating it with emphasis, “Well! Then, that is why it makes me wretched.”

From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens

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

And the difficulty of what he’s doing shouldn’t be understated: He’s not just repeating his part of the dialogue but replicating his pauses, cadence, emphases naturally and in sync with Hnath’s audio.

From New York Times ● Jun. 14, 2023

"We need unity among free marketeers. Kemi and Suella Braverman set out convincing programmes, with differing emphases, for change," Lord Frost said.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2022

In placing the lecture before the public in print, it is impossible, by having recourse to any system of punctuation, to indicate the pauses, jerky emphases, and odd inflexions of voice which characterised the delivery.

From The Complete Works of Artemus Ward — Part 1: Essays, Sketches, and Letters by Artemus Ward

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Related Words

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• insistence
• intensity
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