italics

(noun)

A typeface style that is used to add emphasis to words. 

Related Terms

  • emphasis

Examples of italics in the following topics:

  • Italics

    • Writers use italics to emphasise certain words such as titles, scientific words, and foreign words.
    • In general, italics are used to identify the title of a major publication (such as a book, newspaper, or magazine), for emphasis, for scientific or technical words, and for foreign words.
    • When you need to emphasize a word you can use italics to make it stand out.
  • APA: Tables and Figures

    • If your table includes any abbreviations that need defining, or statistics whose significance levels need noting, immediately below the table, write the word "Note" in italics, followed by a colon, and then provide the needed explanation.
    • Using the same formatting, you should also place that information immediately below your table, following the word "Source" in italics.
    • Immediately below the figure, provide its number (e.g., "Figure 1") in italics, followed by a period, followed by a brief but descriptive title (called a "figure caption") in sentence case.
  • Chicago/Turabian: Tables and Figures

    • Immediately below the table, write the word "Source" (or or "Sources") in italics, followed by a colon, and then provide the source(s) of the information in the table.
  • Reading Challenging Texts

    • What punctuation or other techniques of emphasis (italics, capitals, underlining, ellipses, parentheses) does the author use?
  • Misplaced and Dangling Modifiers

    • The modifying phrase (in italics) provides additional information about the subject of the sentence: the Student Council.
  • Reading Carefully and Closely

    • What other techniques of emphasis (such as italics, boldface font, underlining, and parentheses) does the writer use?
  • Quotation Marks

    • Either quotation marks or italics can indicate when a word refers to the word itself rather than its associated concept (i.e., when the word is "mentioned" rather than "used").
Subjects
  • Accounting
  • Algebra
  • Art History
  • Biology
  • Business
  • Calculus
  • Chemistry
  • Communications
  • Economics
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Marketing
  • Microbiology
  • Physics
  • Physiology
  • Political Science
  • Psychology
  • Sociology
  • Statistics
  • U.S. History
  • World History
  • Writing

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