Highlight

How to spell highlight

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce highlight

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does highlight mean?

1. verbTo draw attention to something, or to mark text in a bright colour so it stands out.
2. nounThe most memorable or outstanding part of an event or experience.

Highlight in a sentence

• verb

  The report uses bold type to highlight the key findings.

• noun

  The trip to the coast was the highlight of their holiday.

• verb

  Please highlight any clause in the contract that concerns you.

• noun

  Meeting the author was a real highlight for every reader present.

Where does highlight come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a transparent English compound, formed by joining the native words 'high' and 'light', both of which descend from Old English (heah meaning 'tall' or 'elevated', and leoht meaning 'brightness' or 'illumination'). The word began life in the world of painting and engraving, where a 'high light' described the brightest spot on a depicted surface, the place catching the most illumination. From the early 1800s artists used it for those luminous touches that gave a picture depth. The figurative sense, the most striking or memorable part of an event, grew naturally from that idea of a point that draws the eye. The verb followed, first meaning to throw light on something and later to mark text with a bright pen or to draw attention to a fact. Because both halves are everyday words, the spelling trap is simply remembering the silent 'gh' kept from the old spelling of 'high'.

How the word is built

• high (elevated, prominent)
• light (illumination, brightness); a compound noun and verb meaning to make something stand out brightly