different between emphasise vs emphatic

English

Verb

emphasise (third-person singular simple present emphasises, present participle emphasising, simple past and past participle emphasised)

1. (British) Alternative spelling of emphasize

Usage notes

The "s" spelling has co-existed with the "z" spelling for at least 150 years (Thackeray wrote emphasised), and is becoming more common in the UK, with the "z" spelling slowly falling out of usage.

Anagrams

• semiheaps

English

Alternative forms

• emphatick (obsolete)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ????????? (emphatikós, “emphatic”), from ??????? (emphaín?, “I show, present”), from ?? (en, “in”) + ????? (phaín?, “I shine, show”); related to ??????? (émphasis) and English emphasis.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?m?fæt?k/
• (weak vowel merger) IPA^(key): /?m?fæt?k/
• Rhymes: -æt?k

Adjective

emphatic (comparative more emphatic, superlative most emphatic)

1. Characterized by emphasis; forceful.
2. Stated with conviction.

   He gave me an emphatic no when I asked him out.

3. (grammar) Belonging to a set of English tense forms comprising the auxiliary verb do + an infinitive without to.
4. (phonology) Belonging to a series of obstruent consonants in several Semitic languages that are distinguished from both voiced and voiceless consonants by a certain phonetic feature or features.
   1. pharyngealized consonants in Arabic, Hebrew, and other Northwest Semitic languages
   2. ejectives in Ge'ez, Amharic, and other Ethiopic Semitic languages

Derived terms

• emphatically

Related terms

• emphasis
• emphasise, emphasize

Translations

Noun

emphatic (plural emphatics)

1. (phonology) An emphatic consonant.
2. (linguistics) A word or phrase adding emphasis, such as "a lot" or "really".

See also

• phatic

Anagrams

• empathic