emphasising

Emphasising, or emphasizing in American spelling, is the act of giving prominence to a word, phrase, or idea. It operates in spoken language through prosody—higher pitch, louder volume, longer duration, and more precise articulation on the emphasized element—and in written language through formatting choices that draw attention to particular text.

In writing, common methods include italics, bold, underlining, quotation marks, or capitalization. The medium and audience influence which method is appropriate; for example, academic writing often relies on formal cues or semantic emphasis via syntax rather than heavy formatting. Semantically, emphasis can also be conveyed through focus constructions such as fronting or cleft sentences.

Focus and contrast are typical pragmatic functions of emphasis. Emphasised material signals importance, clarifies intended meaning, or conveys speaker attitude or stance, including irony or suspicion.

British English typically uses emphasising; American English uses emphasizing. In both varieties, emphasis should be used sparingly to avoid clutter and misinterpretation. In digital text, semantic markup is preferred for accessibility, while visual cues alone may be less accessible.